GO WITH THE FLOW 顺其自然 > Festival Submission

2022

director/cinematographer/editor

Logline

Having immigrated to the Land of the Free, Batubagen all-too-quickly realizes the cost of freedom. While this new reality takes away his aureole and identity as a celebrated master of Khoomei throat singing, he finds his own way of rebuilding his self-worth in his chosen society.

Director’s Statement

I had a life, a good life, and an established career at age 27 in Beijing, one of the most energetic and happening cities in China – indeed the world. I left it behind, crossed the Pacific, and dove into the ocean of strangeness. Like others, creating a new life in a strange land, learning and unlearning. We are immigrants and we belong to a special club. Those first years of loneliness, stress, and self-doubt were frightening, and exciting and made me the person I am today.

When I met Batubagen in 2019, I was immediately attracted by his tenacity and his ease in traveling from one world to the next – letting life take its course. What was his secret? My camera was drawn to him. Making this film has brought my image as a filmmaker come into focus. No funds, no connections, I was the cinematographer, producer, director, and sound mixer. I witnessed brutal violence and made peace with harsh environments. It was rough and fun. If you’re not an immigrant, this process may be hard to fathom, yet we all are constantly changing.  From the womb into this world, from city to city, job to job we are changing. Some let it happen, others make it happen.  What does it mean to move from one culture to another? While Go with the Flow shows only a fraction of one person’s experience, I’m exploring the drive and human spirit within each unique journey to find our place in this world.