_{Silver Bird and Rainbow Fish by Lei Lei}

Using an array of fantastical animation techniques, from paper cut-outs to the use of propaganda imagery to clay puppetry, and even at times incorporating within the frame the maker’s own hand, Silver Bird and Rainbow Fish, originally named Ningdu, tells a deeply poignant story of turbulence and familial separation within China in the 1960s. The visuals accompany vivid and emotional oral reminiscences by Lei Lei’s father and grandfather of that period.

The film is produced by Isabelle Glachant who first pitched the film at CineMart 2017, where it won the Wouter Barendrecht Award, together with director Lei Lei who had already been working on it for a number of years. Periscoop, the distribution arm of production company Submarine, had recently released one of Glachant’s films (Marlina the Murderer) so when she was looking for a production partner on her new film it made sense to turn her sights again to Submarine, a company with an impressive track record in both animation and documentary.

“We understand animation language, but the DNA of the company is focusing on more than just animation, we also have a documentary slate and interactive production” explains Submarine’s Janneke van de Kerkhof, pointing to previous productions such as The Last Hijack* (directed by Tommy Pallotta and the company’s co-founder Femke Wolting in 2014).

Submarine were able to secure further NFF/HBF post-production support for the film, and the main thing that Van de Kerkhof and her colleagues wanted to put in place was an experienced editor (Patrick Minks) to shore up the film’s structure. “Lei Lei has quite an experimental style, but for this film he wanted the storytelling to be a bit more traditional, more linear… he and we really wanted this film to be a bit more accessible.”

Submarine also oversaw the sound effects, mixing, grading and title sequences. “Most of the money went into the editing and postproduction, that was exactly the part that Lei Lei needed most help with,” says Van de Kerkhof, who employed the services of Fever Film. In addition two Dutch composers, Darius Timmer and Tessa Rose Jackson, created the soundtrack and overall sonic mood for the film. “There is a very thin line between music and soundscape in the work,” says the producer.

The plan was that Lei Lei would come to Amsterdam to work on the post-production, but of course the pandemic put paid to such plans. “He could not come because the quarantine rules in China are very, very strict and he already had to travel from LA back to China,” explains van de Kerkhof. “Then he had to quarantine for several weeks in a hotel while he has a family at home. He just could not do that again. So, we never saw him in Amsterdam and everything had to be done at a distance.”

Van de Kerkhof’s concerns that Lei Lei’s ability to communicate very specific ideas and instructions from a distance ultimately proved unfounded. Yes, he had worked autonomously on the project for many years, but once he was installed in an oversea studio that had an efficient internet connection as well as DaVinci compliant software, the post-production could continue with very effective real-time communication between this studio and The Netherlands. “People quickly understood what he was looking for, and he was very happy in the end with the music that was created, and with how the grading went.”

Silver Bird and the Rainbow Fish is produced by C-Ray Studio (US) and Chinese Shadows (HK) in co-production with Submarine (NL). Sales: Asian Shadows.

Click here for a full screening schedule of all Dutch animations at Annecy 2022.
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*Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund

This interview was taken during IFFR in January 2022. It has been updated for Annecy 2022.