Newsletter No. 451

8 451 • 19.1.2015 本刊由香港中文大學資訊處出版，每月出版兩期。截稿日期及稿例載於 www.iso.cuhk.edu.hk/chinese/newsletter/ 。 The CUHK Newsletter is published by the Information Services Office, CUHK, on a fortnightly basis. Submission guidelines and deadlines can be found at www.iso.cuhk.edu.hk/english/newsletter/ . 新聞與傳播學院 朱順慈教授 Prof. Donna Chu School of Journalism and Communication 近年你的創作非常旺盛，先有電影，繼而小說，何解? 每個人都有表達自己和跟別人溝通的需要，身為新聞與傳播學 院的老師，喜歡創作，有那種熱情和好奇，是順理成章的。過去 兩年，我很想透過電影和小說表達一些感受，所以便出現了這 兩件作品。 甚麽激發你拍《佳釀》？ 數年前的生日，我想到給自己一份特別的禮物。我不想太物質 化，撫心自問，有甚麽未圓的童年夢想呢？想到自己寫過的「我 的志願」，就是當編劇或者導演，於是我許下願望要拍一齣戲。 念頭滋生容易，可由於工作太忙，一年過去，甚麽也沒發生。到 了下一個生日，我下定決心，要把戲拍出來。之後的一年，用盡了 所有週末和假期，終於把《佳釀》拍成。 可以談談《佳釀》的「中大成分」嗎？ 我是中大本科畢業的，對中大感情深厚。在這兒工作幾年，發現 學生都面對一些焦慮和迷惘。最明顯的是熬過了漫長激烈的競 爭，進得大學，反而不知道該怎樣利用新得到的自主和自由。鼓 勵人們追求夢想的聲音不少，但假如連自己的夢想是甚麽也不 知道，那又怎麽辦？我以熟悉的人物的感受為藍本，把我和學生 對這些問題的反思放在劇本裏，自然也用了中大做背景。容我 偏私的說，中大的校園是全港最美的，不單是風景，而是那種秀 氣和與別不同的氛圍。 小說《現在未來式》可是你自己的寫照？ 2014年香港連叠發生了很多事，相信很多人跟我一樣，覺得很 無力，很焦慮，情緒難以排解。創作可以發揮幻想，起安慰作 用。6月的某一晚，看新聞看得非常沮喪，我關了電視，開了電 腦，便寫了第一章。假設一個人得到五次穿梭時空的機會，他會 怎樣選擇？在個人和社會的張力和糾結之間，他會做些甚麽決 定？得到怎樣的反思？構思小說要用不少精力，把我從現實世界 裏很多更加荒謬的事情稍稍抽離。小說情節和我個人經歷可說 沒有重叠，唯一共通點是主角是自由工作者，而我進大學工作 之前好一段日子也是個自由工作者。 小說成書後， 陳韜文 教授的攝影佔很大比重，請說說這番 合作。 為我出書的台灣獨立出版社希望可以結合文字和影像，我即時 便想起陳教授，他拍的照片想像空間很大，百看不厭；而我寫的 故事也有很多現實與想像的對話。那時我人在荷蘭，立刻電郵 聯絡他。他看了原稿一遍，很快便想到如何用相片與文字對答， 商量了幾轉，已選出了大堆適合的照片，再交出版社的美術設計 師和編輯構思如何利用它們豐富小說。 你是「博群計劃」的中堅策劃人，為甚麽願意花時間做 這個？ 博群對我最大的吸引力是很多頗有想法和創意、熱愛中大的同 事和同學。例如我現在置身的草廬，就是因去年博群大講堂邀 得台灣的 姚仁喜 建築師演講，而萌生在校園起造一座建築物的 意念。與建築學院的 鍾宏亮 教授討論下來，他和學生便平地裏 搭建了這座饒富詩意的草廬。這些愉快的合作，令人一而再再而 三地嘗試開拓不同的可能性，探討可以在這兒為師生創造一個 怎樣的空間和經驗，也叫我捨不得離開博群。 你剛在阿姆斯特丹過了一個學期，感覺怎樣？ 我在那裏放學術休假，感覺就像過着交換生的生活。在另一所 大學和當地的同事有很多交流機會，在另一個國家生活四個 月，不用急忙地過日子，有思考的時間和空間，遇到很多有趣的 人，找到研究的新方向，得到充分休息，精神的確煥發了。這個 安排相當不錯，大家都應該放學術休假啊！ 請掃描QR碼閱讀全文版 Scan the QR code for the full version 觀看錄像，請掃描QR碼或瀏覽以下網址： To watch the video, please scan the QR code or visit: www.iso.cuhk.edu.hk/video/?nsl451-donna-chu You have been so full of creative energy in the last year or so. First a film, now a novel. Why so? We all have the need to express ourselves and communicate with others. It’s all the more natural for me, a teacher in journalism and communication, to have this energy, passion and curiosity for creative pursuits. During the past two years, I felt the urge to express some feelings through film and novel, and hence, the two pieces of work. What prompted you to shoot a film like The Vintage ? Several years ago, I thought of giving myself a special birthday present. Instead of craving something materialistic, I examined what unachieved childhood dreams I had. To be a film scriptwriter or a director has long been on my wish list, so I told myself I would shoot a film. It’s always easier said than done. I was so busy with my work that nothing happened after a year and soon it was another birthday. I made up my mind that it had to be done. In the following year, I spent all my weekends and holidays producing the film and finally gave birth to it. Would you like to talk about the CUHK elements in The Vintage ? I completed my undergraduate studies at CUHK and have strong emotional bonds with my alma mater. I have worked here for several years, and I find some common anxieties and frustrations among my students. The most detectable is they don’t know what to do with the autonomy and freedom at this stage of their lives after fighting hard for so long to enter university. People always encourage you to go for your dream, but, what if you don’t even know what your dream is? Based on real encounters with people I know, I wrote the script which contains a lot of reflections on this issue by me and my students. CUHK was chosen as the background without much debate. Pardon my favouritism; CUHK has the most beautiful campus in Hong Kong, not only in terms of the scenery, but also the unsophisticated elegance and the unique ambience. Is there anything autobiographical in the novel Now on the Run ? 2014 has been an eventful year. I believe that many people felt the same as I did: powerless, anxious and suffocated. Creativity gives room for imagination and offers comfort. One evening in June, I was so fed up and depressed by the news. I turned off the television, turned on the computer and started to write the first chapter. If a man was given five chances for time travel, what choices would he make? Being entangled in the tension between individuals and society, what decisions would he make, and what reflections would he have? Working all these out consumed much of my energy, and served to distract me from the even more fictional and ridiculous reality. The plot and my personal experience share nothing in common, only that the protagonist is a freelancer, and I also worked freelance for a long period of time before working at CUHK. Prof. Joseph Chan ’s photography has played a vital role in the published novel. How was the collaboration? The novice independent publisher from Taiwan suggested combining text with images. Without a second thought, Professor Chan came to my mind. His photos usually give the viewer enormous room for imagination—great for my novel which is full of dialogues between reality and imagination. I sent him an e-mail from Holland, together with my manuscripts. He came up with lots of brilliant ideas about how photos and text could complement each other. After several rounds of discussion, we settled on a large collection of photos for the art designer and editor to choose from, with the aim of adding substance to the novel. You are one of the core planners and organizers of the University’s I • CARE Programme. Why is it worth your time? The greatest attraction of I • CARE is teachers and students who love CUHK and who are never short of fascinating ideas. Take the cottage here as an example, it is rooted in a primitive idea of building a structure on campus to echo the theme of the 2014 University Lecture on Civility with Taiwanese architect Kris Yao as the guest speaker. We talked to Prof. Thomas Chung of the School of Architecture, and without lengthy discussions, he and his students constructed this poetic cottage from scratch. Collaborations like this are so inspiring and encouraging. We will never feel tired of trying out different possibilities to open up new horizons and enrich the experience for people here on campus. You may say I’m addicted to I • CARE. You’ve spent a semester in Amsterdam. How was it like? I was there on sabbatical leave. It’s just like being an exchange student there. I had the chance to exchange ideas with people in another university. I was able to live my days leisurely for four months in another country, which gave me ample time and space for thinking. I met many interesting people and identified a new direction for research. I rested enough to refresh myself. Sabbatical leave is good and everybody should go for it! Photo by ISO staff