“Bruce Lee. The name is one of the most recognizable in the world. Everywhere you go people know the name Bruce Lee but do they know anything about him as a person? The film explores his struggles of identity, his fight for representation, and his fear of mortality. It unpacks the myth of Bruce Lee through rare archival and interviews from his loved ones that knew him best including some who have never spoken on film about him before. There is no way to tell the full story of Bruce Lee’s life in one film but BE WATER uses a personal lens to tell the story that many still don’t know.” Director Bao Nguyen on BE WATER which screens at the 2020 edition of SxSW Film.
Editor’s Note: While SxSW was officially cancelled on March 6th, 2020, the below interview was one of many that already took place prior to the festival. To respect the creators, all already performed interviews are presented in their unedited entirety below. All of the below works WILL make their way out into the world in one way or another, and we will update this article with updated information when we have it. — JW
Welcome to SxSW! Is your first time here and are you planning to attend your screenings?
This is my first time screening a film at SXSW but I have had the fortune to attend many times in the past. I’m looking forward to attending the first three screenings of the film at SXSW and engaging the audience in the Q&As.
It will be great to have you! Tell me about your start in the business and what you have worked on in the past?
I went to NYU as an undergrad but having Asian immigrant parents, I thought there was no way they would have supported me being a filmmaker. Instead, I pursued law and snuck in some film courses at Tisch for my elective credits. Over time, my passion for film overcame any familial responsibility and I went to graduate school for film at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and pursued filmmaking as a career ever since. My last feature documentary was LIVE FROM NEW YORK! a documentary about the social and political impact of Saturday Night Live and it was selected as the opening night film of the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.
That is a great documentary, by the way! How did BE WATER all come together?
I started developing this film about four years ago after finishing LIVE FROM NEW YORK! That film that examined Saturday Night Live through more of an anthropological lens and I wanted to approach this project the same way, using personal experience and examining a recognizable part of American culture in a different way. In thinking about how heroic mythology is created, especially in America, I was hard pressed to find many heroes that looked like me. One of the few was Bruce Lee. However, I realized I only knew the myth of Bruce Lee and not really Bruce Lee, the person. I think for a hero to really have impact and be a role model to aspire to, you have to know about their personal struggles and what made them human so you can somehow relate your own experience to that. If their accomplishments and legacy become unobtainable then they fail to really inspire. That’s what I felt like when I heard the name Bruce Lee and I wanted to unpack all that. By traveling to all the places that Bruce lived from Hong Kong to Seattle, Oakland, and Los Angeles, I really felt I was able to understand more about the places and people that shaped him. These places are multicultural and diverse which played an important role in shaping Bruce’s philosophy about life. Meeting the people who knew him personally and having deep conversations for hours helped me understand and know him in a way I don’t think I would have ever experienced through any other means. And finally, being able to go through his personal archives in Los Angeles, reading and literally touching his writings and film notes, flipping through his daily planner and book collection; it was all a deeply personal journey for me that I am very grateful and honored to have taken.
What keeps you going while making a movie? What drives you?
Being able to tell stories that connect people really drives me. I am in such a privileged position to do what I love and am passionate about as a career. It’s hard to describe this passion because it runs so deep into everything in my life.
What was your biggest challenge with this project, and the moment that was the most rewarding to you?
Finding some of the interview subjects was pretty challenging at times. Many of the people we wanted to interview were quite old so they aren’t connected as many young people today. For some subjects, they didn’t have an email address nor a cell phone so we had to track people by landline or sometimes just finding their address and showing up.
I am about to get technical, but I would love to know about the the visual design of the movie and how it came together visually.
I wanted the film to feel immersive, that we were living in the time that Bruce Lee lived so we relied mostly on archival footage from that era without seeing talking head interviews. Also, there are times throughout the film that my cinematographer Caleb Heller and I went to locations that Bruce went to and shot impressionistic Super 8 film footage. Most audiences don’t notice this which I suppose is a compliment to how it all came together from the cinematography to the edit.
What are you looking forward to the most about showing your movie here in Austin?
Having been to Austin many times before, I’m excited to show the film to audiences who are truly cinephiles. There is definitely an energy to the audiences at SXSW so I hope they get excited for Bruce!
After the film screens at SxSW, where is the film going to show next? Theatrical, online, more festivals?
We are exploring a theatrical release for the film but it will likely air later this year on ESPN as part of their 30 for 30 series.
If you could show your movie in any theatre outside of Austin, where would you screen it and why?
It would be amazing to screen it at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. That’s where ENTER THE DRAGON had its premiere and it would feel a bit like we have come full circle to screen it there.
What would you say to someone who was being disruptive at a screening like this one?
I wouldn’t say anything. I would just hit them over the head like Bruce Lee did in the famous “Finger Pointing at the Moon” scene at the beginning of ENTER THE DRAGON.
We have a lot of readers on our site looking to make movies or get into the industry somehow. What is the ONE THING you would say to someone who is wanting to get into filmmaking?
Tell a story that feels personal and honest to you and that will lead you to something special.
And final question: what is the greatest movie you have ever seen at a film festival?
I recently saw a perfect 35mm print of IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE that was Wong Kar-Wai’s personal print at the Hawaii International Film Festival! The film is already one of the most stunningly photographed films so to see it in all it’s 35mm glory was a sight to behold. Didn’t hurt that I met Wong Kar-Wai at the festival too!
For more information on this film and to follow its progress into the festival world, point your browser to www.sxsw.com/film!