“I feel we’re very blessed we still have films.”

When looking outside feels scary, you tend to panic and freeze. And if art refuses to forgive anything, it’s stillness.

It takes courage to choose to create, and great patience to learn from it. The film industry and its relationship with filmmakers have long been considered a trial – a never-ending quest to test resilience and tenor. And It’s the same industry that exists in a strange duality: a vast, profit-driven growth machine that is, at the same time, inherently tied to one of the most personal aspects of human experience – expression.

That’s why it feels rare, and urgent, to witness someone who lives their art – and honours it by simply continuing to create. Sylvia Chang humbly treats her 54 years in the film industry not as a legacy to rest on, but as the most natural process of being who she is.

This clear, unapologetic, yet subtle approach to an undeniably outstanding body of work is what earned Chang the reputation of a “cinematic Renaissance woman”, someone who hasn’t only mastered singing, acting, directing, and screenwriting, but who weaves them together with grace and intent. 

Her performance in Tempting Heart (1999), which she also directed, remains one of her most beloved, earning critical acclaim across Asia. 20 30 40 (2004) and Love Education (2017) stand out as complex and poignant portrayals of memory and longing, each approaching these themes in its own distinct way. Chang is also credited with discovering Edward Yang, notably producing and starring in his debut feature, That Day on the Beach (1983), helping establish it as a defining work of the Taiwanese New Wave. Her role in Ang Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), an Academy Award-nominated cult classic, also remains iconic, Lee’s only film shot entirely in native Taiwan.

It makes sense that, in true Sylvia Chang fashion, she arrived at the 27th Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, to receive the Golden Mulberry Award (the highest honor presented at FEFF) not alone, but as part of the team behind a new voice: she co-produced and starred in Daughter’s Daughter, the second feature by Huang Xi, that had its international premiere in Udine.

So, on a Labour Day afternoon, just a few hours before receiving a Lifetime Achievement honor, we sat down to talk about what it means to celebrate the creative self today.

View of the Arts: Welcome back to Udine. You’ve shared a long journey with FEFF over the years, returning now to receive the Golden Mulberry Award. How does that make you reflect on your relationship with the festival?

Sylvia Chang: Well, I’m very honored. And I’m very happy I’m here, not just because I’ve been working for so long, but because I still have films coming out. I’m still working on them. So, as a filmmaker, I think the most important thing is to keep doing creative work. It means a lot that my work is still being appreciated by the audience, by the festival.

VOA: Seeing you here, after so many years, sharing new work and bringing fresh perspectives, I wonder: how do you keep that alive in an industry that can be so fast-paced and often unforgiving?

SC: I’m not someone who plans too far ahead; I just follow my heart. I feel very blessed that, every year, interesting projects come to me. That’s the privilege of being in the film industry for so long, that finally, you have the privilege of choice. You can choose what you want to do. And I don’t only make movies; I do stage work, I direct, I write, I do recitals, all kinds of things. That’s what really helps me grow. It elevates my work as I learn so much, and everything just connects. It’s what inspires me to do different things, and that’s what keeps me going, working, working, working… for 54 years! [laughs]

VOA: If you could speak to your younger self, your teenage self, just before entering the industry, what would you say to her? What would you want her to know, maybe not about the work, but about the life that comes with it?

SC: Everyone has their own destiny. You might not have a choice, because you’re born into it, without choosing it. But the path is still there. You might not have had the chance to choose it, but you do have the chance to make it real. You can walk your own way and make it unique. In the end, it’s up to you.

VOA: Do you think your career path would be possible for someone just starting out today? For a young Asian filmmaker now, would their journey look anything like yours?

SC: I don’t know … probably not. Looking back, I never imagined I’d be in this business. I thought I’d be a singer; I was already singing. So I had to make a choice: do I keep singing, or do I do films? But the moment I stepped onto a film set, I just knew I belonged there. I don’t know why. Sometimes there’s just a moment when you realise: this is it.

VOA: What are some of the challenges you didn’t expect along the way, things that might surprise young creatives, especially the unknown parts of this journey? Were there ever moments when a failure made you think about stepping away?

SC: I think the unknown is what excites me the most. It’s something that keeps you curious, keeps you moving forward. Sometimes you don’t succeed – a project might not work out as you hoped. But failure sometimes is what improves you.

Did I ever think about stepping away? Maybe, for five minutes [laughs]. And then another day starts. So, not really. Of course, sometimes you do wonder: Am I still suitable for this young generation? But then I just think: What the hell? They do what they want to do, and I do what I want to do. Of course, we also learn from young people – from the way they look at things, from new technology. But they also have to learn from us, from the way we do things.

Written and interviewed by Maria Nova

Featured image courtesy of Far East Film Festival

_{My name is Maria Nova, and I’m a visual artist, designer, bartender, and postgraduate humanities student based in Italy. I explore cinema through the lens of aesthetics, identity, and storytelling. I was part of the Campus program at the 27th Far East Film Festival, where I deepened my interest in contemporary popular culture.}

^{View of the Arts is proud to support and collaborate with the FEFF Campus – a dynamic training initiative designed for aspiring media and film professionals under 26. Bringing together five participants from Europe and five from Asia, the programme offers hands-on experience in film journalism, festival operations, and industry networking. Through exclusive seminars, interviews, and workshops led by film experts, students gain practical insights into filmmaking, media careers, and the art of cinema}

_{View of the Arts is an online publication dedicated to films, music, and arts, with a strong focus on the Asian entertainment industry. With rich content already available to our readers, we aim to expand our reach and grow alongside our audience by delving deeper into emerging platforms such as K-pop and Asian music more broadly. At the same time, we remain committed to exploring the vibrant and ever-evolving global landscape of film, music, and the arts, celebrating the immense talent and creativity that define these industries worldwide.}