Pailin Wedel is a Thai-American journalist and filmmaker who grew up in Asia. She has regularly produced documentary programs for Al Jazeera English, namely for its current events program “101 East.” Aside from her television work, Wedel has also filmed pieces for The New York Times, National Geographic, and Monocle. She is also the founder of 2050 Productions, a Bangkok-based documentary team.

“Hope Frozen” will premiere at the 2019 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival on April 27.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

PW: “Hope Frozen” is about a family of Thai scientists who decides to cryopreserve their two-year-old daughter following her death from cancer. She was the youngest person in the world to be cryopreserved.

The documentary reveals a family in mourning, seeking answers not only from Buddhism but also from their profound faith in science. It’s a glimpse into how technology will change the way we grieve in the 21st century.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

PW: I wanted to profile a family grappling with existential themes of life and death in a totally unique way. I also think the documentary serves as a counterweight to themes of backwardness that dominate Western portrayals of Southeast Asia.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

PW: I want people to think about how technology is now blurring the very meaning of life and death. I’m not in any way saying that this particular technique—cryopreservation—will bring people back to life, but tech giants are spending a lot of money on radical life extension.

Defeating death could be humanity’s biggest endeavor in the 21st century. It may totally fail, but it’s being attempted. How will humans change during this pursuit?

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

PW: Funding! I’m a first-time feature filmmaker from Thailand where the documentary film financing infrastructure is quite minimal. Most grants abroad are allocated for developing nations focusing on human rights issues, and our film just didn’t fit that category. It took me two years to find the majority of the funding.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made. 

PW: I wrote 14 funding applications and pitched at six different forums before we received most of the funding. The six pitch forums were The Guardian, DMZ Docs, Asian Side of the Doc, Leipzig Networking Days, The Whickers, and Tokyo Docs.

It was almost two years before I won The Whickers Pitch at Sheffield Doc/Fest. They funded most of the film with the 80,000 GBP [or about 104,000 USD] prize.

I also won Best Asian Pitch at Tokyo Docs, which had a small cash prize. Right after pitching in Tokyo, I was approached Bili Bili, a Chinese platform, and they became our co-producer, putting in what we needed to make the cinematic festival version.

It was very long and uncertain journey.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

PW: I was inspired by filmmaking’s power to connect disparate peoples. I grew up all over Asia: Thailand, India, and Singapore, to be exact. My father is American and my mother is Thai, so I’ve often found myself in situations where I’ve had to be an interpreter of both language and culture.

Communicating visually can break so many cultural and language boundaries. My past works have all been reportage documentaries about current affairs in Asia. But I felt that for audiences to really connect with this story, they needed to hear it from the family, so “Hope Frozen” is my first creative character-driven film.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

PW: Most of the people I’ve met along the way have been very supportive. I think one of the challenges of being a first-time feature-length female film director is figuring out who you can trust. Luckily, I had enough mentors to help me with that process.

However, there have been a few people who just didn’t believe that I could pull it off. I’ve even had a female commissioning editor pinch my cheeks and tell me I’m cute—all while lecturing me about filmmaking ethics. I’m 36 years old with 15 years of experience as a journalist, but I can look young to westerners.

I do feel that Asian women are too often infantilized in this industry and that our work is sometimes second-guessed.

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

PW: Surround yourself with people who believe in you and your vision. The first to share this vision with me was my Director of Photography, Mark Dobbin. After the trailer was cut, a lot of people who immediately connected with the film were women—namely my Executive Producer Amanda Feldon, my editor and co-scriptwriter Nina Ijas, our editing consultants at Ten Thousand Images, our funders at The Whickers, and our co-producers at Bili Bili.

Make an effort to keep connecting with people who dig your ideas. Find your cheerleaders and hold on to them for dear life. It is a marathon.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

PW: I don’t really have a favorite. I loved “Shirkers” by Sandi Tan, and I can’t wait to see her next film. On the fiction side, I am totally addicted to the series “The OA,” which is co-created by Brit Marling.

What makes both filmmakers great is that they are risk-takers with their themes and visual style. They also deliver a clear creative vision.

W&H: It’s been a little over a year since the reckoning in Hollywood and the global film industry began. What differences have you noticed since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements launched?

PW: The reckoning in Hollywood has been a long time coming and, as a more distant observer, it’s been thrilling to see so many wrongs exposed. But to be honest, this movement hasn’t really rippled into Southeast Asia.

The filmmaking industry in Asia, like society as a whole, is a largely male-dominated arena. It can feel a little lonely looking for a supportive network. Because resources are scant, artists lean on their peers for help, and it can be hard to break into these influential circles. It’s even more daunting for a Southeast Asian female director to find her place in Hollywood, which is an imposing world to outsiders of all stripes.

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