By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Director Bing Liu returned to Rockford on Saturday to screen his latest short film and take questions from his hometown audience about movie-making, his next project and life after being nominated for an Academy Award.
Liu, who was born in China and raised in Rockford, was here as part of the 815Horts Film Festival at the RPL Nordlof Center, 118 N. Main St. The festival featured 13 short films, including seven from local filmmakers, and was headlined by a showing of “What the Hands Do,” a roughly 35-minute picture about rock climbing and social justice made with Patagonia Films.
Related story: Catching up with Bing Liu: Rockford filmmaker talks latest project, life since ‘Minding the Gap’
Liu, who now lives in New York, said while making the film he found parallels between rock climbing and skateboarding, his lifelong passion that was at the center of “Minding the Gap,” which was nominated for best documentary feature in 2018 at the Academy Awards.
“This was a little more about values and community,” Liu said. “The irony of this is such an individual sport and how is community a part of that.”
The new film follows immigrants Mariana Mendoza and Miguel Casar through tense moments climbing on the mountain and personal struggles with social justice issues and the role of climbing in their lives. It was shot in five days spread out over six months.
Although the film is designed for a climbing audience, Liu said he tried to create a picture that was accessible to people whether they were familiar with climbing or not.
“I believe that all stories are about relationships,” Liu said after being asked a question about the role of the filmmaker. “It’s about tracking a relationship over time.”
Liu is now working on an adaptation of the novel “Preparation for the Next Life” for film.
“So far, I’ve developed five fiction films and two have almost gone,” Liu told the crowd. “This third one let’s hope it goes, but it might not.”
The nearly seven-hour festival concluded with awards presented to the best local short film and the best film overall.
815Horts Film Festival | Winners
Best local/regional short: “A Cloudy Moon” (written by Aaron Hill; directed and produced by T.J. Hill)
Best short: “Barefoot Empress” (directed by Vikas Khanna; produced by Doug Roland; executive produced by Deepak Chopra)
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas