What was it like to receive death threats when the movie came out? Did you anticipate the hostility in any way?
Actually, it was the darkest time in my life. The death threat emails and the insulting articles in the newspapers every day, the huge headlines saying I was a traitor who loved Japan, not my own country–these insulting words came from every corner of the country, from every source: radio, TV, print media. For several months, the film became the hottest topic in China. It scared me and it scared the government, so the film disappeared from movie theaters overnight. I received lots of support from people who loved the movie–but my parents were worried about me, my father wrote many articles to support me. In a way, the whole experience made me grow up. I found out that I didn’t really know my own country. Never in a million years would I have thought that this film would cause such controversy. I was even abandoned by some of my friends because of it. People in the film industry were very critical too, and I was surprised, because when I started at the Beijing Film Academy, my teachers told me to make independent movies rather than propaganda, but then they hated this movie! I found out that there are a lot of nationalists in China. It was a good education for me, to help me have a better understanding and be clear about my targets in future. I know what kind of movies I want to make and I’m not scared, just more clear.