SHP+ continues on the issue of minor representation of female filmmakers in China. Women’s Perspectives is a series of articles where we interview women filmmakers to give exposure to their name and their work, but also talk about their dreams, challenges and realities of being a woman in the industry.
SHP+持续关注国内女性影视创作者。在女性视角系列中，我们采访女性影视创作者，让更大的观众知道她们的名字，理解她们的工作，同时也谈论了她们的梦想、挑战和作为一名女性在这个行业中的现实。
Marina Erdeljan talks fast, radiates gratitude and propels her career forward with determination. The Serbian director initially came to China for 3 months, curious to see how the production industry was working in this part of the world. Six years later, she is as enthusiastic and hungry to learn, experience and achieve more.
Marina Erdeljan讲话语速很快，她对生活充满感激，也在坚定地推进着自己的事业。这位塞尔维亚导演第一次来中国只待了3个月，彼时的她好奇地想看看中国的制作行业是如何运作的。6年过去了，她依然满怀热情，渴望学习，希望能够经历更多，收获更多。
“I’m very grateful to earn money doing something I purely love. Sometimes it’s hard and challenging. But I think the most creative part is to learn something new with every new project”, shares Marina early into our conversation. It’s easy to see, how a director as she qualified herself “both approachable and demanding” quickly developed a versatile portfolio. Aside from car clients like Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Marina shot for Adidas, Huawei, Airbnb, OPPO, McDonald’s, Columbia to name a few. She likes shooting cars, a category which female directors usually don’t get many opportunities, but fashion and lifestyle are the areas Marina would love to explore more. Not surprisingly, when we ask about the project she’s most proud of, Marina names a commercial film for fashion brand Ledin. A commercial, which was shot in Shanghai but reached out beyond China, scooping awards of fashion film festivals in Los Angeles, London, Sarajevo, and Croatia.
访谈一开始，Marina就跟我们分享了她的心声：“能做自己最喜欢的事情，还能赚钱，我真的非常心怀感激。虽然有时会有困难和挑战。但我认为最具有创造性的事，就是在每一个新项目中学到新的东西”。Marina说自己是一名“亲切但又要求严格”的导演，也正因为如此，她才可以在短时间内积累下各种各样的项目经验。除了保时捷、梅赛德斯-奔驰、大众等汽车品牌客户，Marina还为阿迪达斯、华为、爱彼迎、OPPO、麦当劳、哥伦比亚等品牌创作了不少作品。她喜欢拍摄汽车，虽然这类广告对于女性导演来说通常很难有机会接触，但时尚和生活方式是Marina想要进一步探索的领域。因此，当我们问及她最引以为豪的项目时，Marina不出意料地说到了女装品牌乐町的一部广告大片。虽然这部广告片在上海拍摄，但其影响力却漂洋过海，在洛杉矶、伦敦，萨拉热窝和克罗地亚的时尚电影节中大放异彩，斩获了不少奖项。
LEDIN Fashion Film
Marina often chooses to work with her cinematographer husband Vladimir Milosevic. One of the many projects they’ve worked on together was for DARPHIN, a sub-brand of Estee Lauder, featuring influencer Li Jiaqi. It’s not their only experience of shooting with Chinese celebrity— super model Liu Wen and actor Li Xian have also appeared in her work. Marina is a freelance director, but does work a lot with INFINITY FILMS, a production and events studio she co-founded with Vladimir. On those productions, she often doubles up as a producer for events, and sometimes even edits as well. “I discovered, that being exposed to different processes and parts of filmmaking gives me a strong insight on how to improve my work”, Marina shares.
Marina常常和她的摄影指导丈夫Vladimir Milosevic一起工作，雅诗兰黛的子品牌朵梵是他们合作过的众多项目之一，该项目还邀请到了网红名人李佳琦。但这并不是他们与中国名人唯一的一次合作，名模刘雯和演员李现都曾参演过他们的作品。Marina虽然是独立导演，但她常与INFINITY FILMS进行合作，这是一家由她与Vladimir共同创立的制片与活动策划工作室。在这些合作项目中，她经常兼任活动策划人，有时甚至还兼任编辑。Marina分享说:“我发现，接触电影制作的不同过程和部分，让我对如何改进自己的工作有了更深刻的见解。”
LIU WEN X Levis
Since the borders have been closed for foreign talents, Marina admits she has been getting even more opportunities. But she believes that it’s not just the current lack of foreign talent that keeps her busy. “I really value the relationship I’ve developed here. With producers that I know for a long time, even when the budget is not big, but the script is good, and I have free time—let’s do it! Having our own business gives me the liberty and luxury to say yes to projects I like”, she says.
由于目前限制外国人才进入国内，Marina承认她因此获得了更多的机会。但她认为，这些机会不只是因为目前外国人才短缺才能到手的。Marina说：“我真的很珍惜我在这里建立的关系。与我相识已久的制片人一起合作，即使预算不高，但只要剧本足够好，我有时间，就开始拍吧！拥有自己的公司给我了更多创作自由，能够没有顾虑地拿下自己喜欢的项目”。
Porsche Taycan 4S “Reveal Your Soul”
Compared to Serbia, a small country where the industry is undeniably more male-dominated, and guanxi is extremely strong, women filmmakers are in a much better position in China, Marina tells us. It’s therefore no surprise that she is very generous with her praise of local talent work. Like AD Ziru Ding, Olivia, Chelsea, Maya, directors Christian Yan, Lin Yi, and editors Dawn, Judy, Becky, Faye. When we ask, if she ever felt any discrimination, she firmly says “No”, adding “Well not anymore”… after a small pause. “I feel the situation’s getting much better now. Six years ago I did a treatment for Porsche pre-event film. The producer told me: your treatment won, but you didn’t”, Marina remembers. The client was sure, that a female director cannot film cars. In the end, she won the project, convincing the client she was every bit as technical, as creative. “I AM very technical, I like to prepare my production decks properly, write my own treatments and I’m very strict on my set.”, Marina shares.
Marina告诉我们，与塞尔维亚这个小国家相比，女性电影人在中国的地位要高得多。塞尔维亚的电影产业完全是由男性主导，其中的 ‘关系’也非常地顽固。或许也正因如此，她对本土人才从不吝啬赞赏。比如她的助理导演 Ziru Ding、Olivia、Chelsea、 Maya, 以及导演们Christian Yan, Lin Yi, 和剪辑师Dawn、 Judy、 Becky、Faye。当我们问到，她是否感受到过任何歧视，她坚定地说不，并在短暂的停顿后补充说：“好吧，不再会有了……我觉得情况现在好多了。六年前，我为保时捷活动的先行电影项目撰写过电影前制论述，制片人跟我说：你的论述赢得了满堂彩，但你没有，”对于此事Marina依然记忆犹新。这位客户坚信，女导演拍不好汽车。故事的最后，她赢得了这个项目，也让客户相信她的技术和创意都很棒。Marina说：“我非常重技术，我喜欢认真准备制片计划，自己写电影前制论述，在片场我也非常严格。”
Marina feels positive about quota-like initiatives like ‘Free the Bid’ of foreign brands to include women directors in pitching. But in her opinion, what would help more is producers being more open-minded and convinced that pitching a female director is every bit as qualified to do the job.
Marina觉得外国品牌一些平权配额的举措没什么不好，比如“Free the Bid”（解放竞标）就倡导在竞标中让女性导演参与进来。但在她看来，更有用的方法是制片人不再怀揣偏见，坚信女性导演也完全有能力胜任这份工作。
Marina believes: “Women in this industry can get more visibility, if we stick together. Especially if we support each other, if we talk to each other and help push each other more. There’s no need to be jealous of each other. Man or woman— it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, it’s the work that you deliver is what matters”.
Marina认为: “如果我们团结一致，这个行业里的女性就可以得到更多的关注。特别是如果我们支持彼此，保持沟通，互帮互助，互相提携。完全没必要嫉妒。是男人还是女人都无所谓。说一千道一万，你的作品才是最重要的”。
If you are a female commercial director/cinematographer/production designer/ editor, or you know someone who’s suitable for the series. Feel free to share with us the name.
如果你是一位女性广告影片导演、摄影指导、制作设计师、剪辑师，或者你认识适合这个系列的人，请随时联系我们。
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