Chinese filmmaker Li Ruijun graces the cover of the inaugural issue of UIC student magazine Converse. Born in Gansu and known for his patient, unsentimental attention to rural life, labour, family, and the quiet violence of social change, Li has emerged as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Chinese cinema.

Converse’s two reporters CHEN Yifei and FENG Xiya meet him in Beijing for an extensive conversation that ranges far beyond a conventional film interview: from his own artistic formation and his working methods to his view of cinema in general and Chinese cinema in particular. Li also speaks at length about Return to Dust—its extraordinary public success, its subsequent removal from circulation, the realities of production, and the uneasy place of an independent-minded filmmaker within China’s contemporary cultural landscape.

The full interview is available via the link below:

CONVERSE 1_Li Ruijun Interview