Banana Confessions

Critic Film Editor Calum Henderson talks to Roseanne Liang about her surprise festival hit, Banana In A Nutshell.
Auckland filmmaker Roseanne Liang’s Banana In A Nutshell might not stand out on the first read-through of this year’s film festival programme. Nestled away on page 50, it’d be easy to overlook altogether, in which case you’d be missing out – it promises to be one of the more interesting documentaries on offer, coming straight from a number of sold out and extremely well-received screenings in Auckland and Wellington.
If Liang says she never expected such a positive reaction, it’s not just modesty – it wasn’t until most of the footage had been shot that the thought of publicly releasing the film even occurred. “I’ve been collecting pieces of my life on video for a while now, ever since I found out the camera is the greatest confessional device for getting things off your chest”, she explains. “The thing is, I never expected this film to really make it big in a public way, so I made it firstly for myself, just to remember what happened”.
What did happen goes something like this: for the last eight years, the New Zealand-born Liang has been navigating the cultural minefield between her kiwi boyfriend and her strictly traditional Chinese parents. At 27, Liang must remain living at home with them until she is married, and after eight years, they still live in denial of her relationship. If pursuing a career in the unorthodox field of filmmaking was embarrassing for the Liangs, then the very thought of their daughter marrying a New Zealander is mortifying – yet that is exactly what she is determined to do. The film, then, chronicles the weeks of uncertainty, nerves and tension leading up to the big day, when her partner Stephen must approach her father to formally request permission to marry. In Mandarin.
As writer Tze Ming Mok – also a first generation Chinese New Zealander – points out in her review of the film, this scenario has become relatively uncommon. “Roseanne … seems to be living my mother’s life”, she writes. “The parental Liangs are a throwback to the previous generation, and their attitudes will probably be seen as extreme and retrograde by the Chinese people who see this film”. But, as Liang recently found out, the theme is echoed in relationships the world over. “We had Q&A sessions at the end of the Auckland screenings and the most heartwarming thing was people, couples, members of every cultural community coming up to me and saying … how they had gone through similar difficulties with their partners, husbands and wives, from 50 years ago to the present day”.
For Liang, who has made a number of successful fictional short films, the 55-minute documentary was initially intended to be a lot shorter. “I originally envisaged a 15-minute piece, hence the ‘in a nutshell’ part of the title”, she explains, “but of course when I actually collected all the footage, it turned out there was a lot more engaging stuff than I thought there would be. Basically, when about 80% of the footage was collected, I realised I had a much longer beast on my hands, so I guess the piece came together, really, in the edit suite. I just cut intuitively; I wasn’t entirely sure how it would all turn out”. The director seems more surprised than anyone at how well it did turn out: “I really was just making the film for myself, and the apparent wider appeal of the film continues to amaze and delight me – it really is part of the magic of film, and I’m tremendously grateful that it’s happened!”
“Being so open and honest on the big screen in front of a packed house does foster huge anxieties”, Liang admits, “but the audience reaction to such an intimate look into my life has been nothing but positive so far. What’s most amazing for me is the way the film lets people open up about their lives to me, which I really love. I mean, how are we going to deal with this very common problem if we aren’t going to open up and talk about it? I like to think my film is fostering a spirit of discussion and path to understanding”.
Which begs the question – have her parents seen it yet? “I’m not sure,” Liang replies. “I have given them a copy to see, but I’m not sure if they have actually watched it. They haven’t really talked to me about it yet, but I think they are as surprised as I am about the amazing reaction”.
By Calum Henderson
Banana in a Nutshell screens at Rialto 3.15pm on Saturday 6 August & 12.00pm on Sunday 7 August.