#jo chiang

[farewell-to-lorien]

No more flags to unfurl No more crusades to be won I don’t need a brave new world Just a kinder one

[farewell-to-lorien]

’Cus when I was lost in the pitch of night The only stars I needed to see Were spread across your face Marked by the places my hands used to trace Oh I can take it all The good and the bad and the melancholy If I can wake up by your side And say, dear, good morning With every sunrise

[farewell-to-lorien]

Hey, friend of mine The road goes on into the night Hey, friend of mine I'll walk with you ’til we meet the tide It's hard to see, it's hard to know The bottom's deep, the light is grey and slow So steady, steady, steady as we go

[farewell-to-lorien]

Runaways of ash and dust In a world that’s gone to rust Dream enough for a fool or two Until this fool comes back to you No matter how, no matter when No matter what the gods portend Though the mountains crack And the rivers run dry I know I’ll see you once again

[farewell-to-lorien]

Let your eyes be the same Let your voice ring the way I remember May these memories make it through The frost and the blue of December

[fyeahindieactors]

Edge of the Woods

Directed by Amrita Singh Produced by Nora Mueller Story by Jo Chiang Written by Jo Chiang and Anya Josephs Starring: Raquel Chavez Jo Chiang Korinne Winter Shelley Farmer

[thefoundco]

EDGE of the WOODS

Robin ➳ Jo Chiang

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[thefoundco]

WRITER & ACTOR Jo Chiang | Robin

Most interesting thing about Robin: Among the four friends, she's the most experienced with death

Three words that best describe Robin: steadfast, underestimated, devoted

Favorite fairy tale: I think it's a given that Little Red Riding Hood is my fav

Favorite heroine: Frida Kahlo

Favorite film: Lilo and Stitch let's be real Nani is the love of my life

Favorite fantasy world: the Pokemon universe seems pretty chill

Most interesting book you’ve read this week: I'm almost done with Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

Artistic influences for the film: Sondheim's Into the Woods (no shit), Guillermo del Toro, and pretty much every YA novel I read as a suburban pre-teen.

How did you approach the writing process? The basic plot outline was hashed out last summer, sitting on my college's lawn. I reworked it a few times over a couple of months, until it felt solid and it felt right. The spoken text was written in collaboration, with not only the very talented Anya Josephs, but with suggestions from others, such as our producer, Nora Mueller. In the original script, I only offered outlines of characters, because I wanted them to be fleshed out by everyone involved-- actors, director, producer. Those specifics were created together, which I think served the story in a fantastic way. Fairy tales are part of our cultural consciousness. They are something communities shaped together to interpret, challenge, and understand. I wanted our process of creating this story to reflect that.

What is the societal importance of fairy tales? Of reinterpretations of fairy tales? We tell stories to explain to ourselves who we are. Fairy tales are a particular kind of story that also serve as a means of control. They don't just explain who we are, but tell us how we should be. Listen to your mother. Don't talk to strangers. Your sexuality is a threat. The question then is: can we repurpose that? Can we challenge that? Can we take the young girl who enters the forest and is punished for her transgressions, and turn her into a young girl who escapes into a forbidden space in order to come to a greater understanding of the world she lives in?

Why is political art important? All art is political. Even claiming the absence of a political agenda in a piece of art is a political agenda in and of itself. I personally strongly believe all art is and should be a movement towards something. The question isn't even always what, but how. How do we make our art, and how does that inform the way we live our lives in communities shaped by institutional powers? For me, art is hugely defined by the process of creating it. How you make your art is just as political as what you make. No process is perfect, but working towards a thoughtful, intentional, and compassionate process is a *~utopian~* project, and committing yourself towards that kind of futurity is how we do what we can to make positive and responsible change. Long story short, all art is political, but all process is political too.