Isabel Wolte worked as the cultural events manager in the Austria Pavilion at the World Expo Shanghai 2010. [Photo: China Daily]
Film academic and enthusiast is devoted to exploring Chinese culture
Isabel Wolte has had a lifelong fascination with the human soul and the purpose of life. The philosophical questions attached to these subjects have led her toward Chinese culture, and more particularly Chinese film, as a means to explore them and find answers.
"My interest in Chinese film specifically was strongly influenced by my mother's work," she says. Isabel's mother, Ursula Wolte, is active in cultural exchanges between Austria and China. Her father, Dr Wolfgang Wolte, was the Austrian ambassador to China from 1980 to 1986.
"It was her who organized the first Chinese film retrospective in Austria in 1991. Forty outstanding Chinese films were shown in public cinemas in Vienna for this event. It was the first time that I was exposed to the variety and beauty of Chinese cinema and since then I have been interested in it."
Twelve years later when her mother initiated and participated in the first Sino-Austrian co-produced film project, On the Other Side of the Bridge, directed by Hu Mei and released in 2003, Isabel became involved. It was through this film that she decided to study the Chinese language and Chinese cinema.
That same year she moved to China to work as executive director of her own film company, China Film Consult Wolte KG, specializing in consultancy related to Chinese cinema, as well as cultural exchanges between Europe and China.
During her first three years in China, she tried to analyze Chinese film using the country's philosophy, but found it too difficult.
"I realized that Chinese philosophy is much too complex. I could never fully understand it without studying classical Chinese language and reading the original philosophical works. Even then it would take many more years of study and research," she says.
In 2006 she enrolled on a PhD program at Beijing Film Academy.
"I knew my time was limited, but at the same time I was not willing to base my research on English summaries of Chinese philosophical strands. So I decided it was better to choose a topic that I could research in the given amount of time and that would use the advantages I had as a European. A topic which compared non-Chinese with Chinese cultural aspects was well suited to me as a foreigner," she says.
Wolte chose to study Chinese films adapted from foreign literature, comparing them for storyline, intent, morality and political purpose, if there was one.
"All adaptations involved rewriting the story in a completely Chinese setting. If you did not know that these films were based on non-Chinese literature, you would never guess," she says.
Rather than regarding these films as literary adaptations, in Wolte's opinion, they should be viewed as cross-cultural adaptations or appropriations.
"The original works were all nationalized for the Chinese screen, in some cases almost beyond recognition. Various aspects from the culture of the original work that go beyond the story plot, such as moral values, ideology and aesthetics, are transplanted into the guest culture. To varying degrees, these elements are endorsed, discarded or altered," she says.
The research she undertook is set in a transnational theoretical framework and analyzes a cross-cultural as well as a cross-media phenomenon with the use of comparative methodology.
As a newcomer to this area of study, she is faced with cultural barriers, but uses an open mind, tolerance and curiosity to overcome them.
"With these, you are willing to learn to get to know one another. Talk to people. Individual people in China as well as in Austria are generally very friendly and considerate. Once you think of people as individuals, it becomes more difficult to develop stereotypes, more difficult to discriminate against anyone. For foreigners in China, I suggest they try to learn some Chinese: even just a few words in Chinese can make all the difference," she says.
As for the current Chinese film industry, Wolte is blunt about its positives and negatives. "It is thriving. More and more films are being produced, the budgets are larger than ever, the number of cinemas and screens is increasing day by day, but at the same time, development is scattered and inconsistent, the quality of both high-budget and low-budget productions is varied and the system is not clearly defined.
"In particular, the distribution for smaller budget or art house films is not guaranteed in any way and many of the films produced are never shown in public. This is a shame," she says.
Sino-Austrian film cooperation is another task she is committed to. To this day, there have only been two genuine Sino-Austrian co-production films made, she says, meaning both sides contributed financially and creatively to the project.
The first, Children of the World, was made in Shanghai in 1941 by the Chinese director Fei Mu and the Austrian film pioneers Luise and Jakob Fleck.
"Throughout their life, Luise and Jakob Fleck contributed tremendously to the development of Austrian and German cinema from its early stages. Since Jakob was Jewish, they had to flee to Shanghai in 1939, Shanghai International Concession being one of the only places left that Jewish refugees could be safe.
"There they met Fei Mu and encouraged him to cooperate with them. The film Children of the World is a reminder of the strength of some individuals and it tells a universal story of helping one another, sacrifice and, in the end, hope."
The second Sino-Austrian co-production, On the Other Side of the Bridge, directed by Hu Mei, was released in 2003. Isabel and her mother are actively working to initiate new co-productions. They currently have two scripts in the preparatory stage.
"In general, co-production in the real sense is difficult because it requires understanding and compromise from both sides, while at the same time trying to achieve universal standards with a story of universal interest. This is very difficult to do, but when successful, certainly worth all the effort.
"Also, on a personal level for all people involved, this can be a truly valuable experience."
Last year, Wolte started giving lectures at both the University of Vienna and Beijing Film Academy. In Austria she teaches classes on Chinese cinema. It is rewarding because Chinese cinema history is not well known and the films in general are an enjoyable and accessible means of understanding another culture, according to Wolte.
"My classes vary every year, so, during preparation, I also learn more about certain aspects of Chinese cinema. For example, starting in November I will teach a class specifically devoted to the Fourth Generation of filmmakers in China and their beautiful, warm style of filming," she says.
In China, she teaches a regular English class to PhD students at Beijing Film Academy. This gives her the opportunity to get to know scholars in the Chinese film world.
"We have very interesting discussions in class. I have also taught a class on intercultural communication at Beijing Foreign Studies University, which was similarly rewarding," she says.