Original subtitles

♪♪

♪♪

Woman: You live in a different world.

Not a world of words...

but of things that you cannot express.

♪♪

[Camera shutters clicking]

♪♪

Man: [Rapping in foreign language]

♪♪

♪♪

Mweh!

♪♪

Olivia: In the world's largest megacity,

it is often the public spaces that reveal the stories.

Man: [Rapping in foreign language]

♪♪

Olivia: As a photographer living in Shanghai,

I found myself drawn

to the dreamlike photo shoots

on the streets around me.

Man: [Speaking foreign language]

♪♪

Olivia: I wanted to understand why everyone had a pre-wedding shoot

well before their actual wedding.

♪♪

Whose fantasy was it,

and why was it so deeply important to everyone?

Man: [Rapping in foreign language]

[Camera shutter snaps]

♪♪

Olivia: I only had to look back one generation

to start finding answers.

[Speaking foreign language]

Olivia: Only 40 years ago,

marriages were arranged by family or the state.

Wedding photos consisted of one

black and white passport-sized photo

and served primarily as proof of the marriage.

[Camera shutters snapping]

Now, the wedding industry in China

is worth over $80 billion.

♪♪

Stepping into this fairytale wonderland,

I found a new respect for the power of photography

as I watched the camera

help a nation build new memories and dreams.

♪♪

Before I knew it, I had opened a doorway

into a much broader understanding of China,

the country I now call home.

Man: [Rapping in foreign language]

♪♪

[Camera shutter snaps]

♪♪

Okay, let's get him sitting down there,

and we'll ask some questions.

Xuezhong: [Speaking foreign language]

[Laughs]

[All speaking foreign language]

♪♪

[Camera shutter snaps]

[Speaking foreign language]

♪♪

[Indistinct chatter]

♪♪

[All speaking foreign language]

♪♪

[Laughs]

♪♪

[Both speaking foreign language]

[Camera shutter snaps]

♪♪

[Camera shutter snaps]

♪♪

Man: [Laughs]

♪♪

[Camera shutters snapping][Indistinct chatter]

♪♪

♪♪

Aww.

♪♪

[Sighs]

♪♪

If I didn't meet Will,

I would never marry someone I don't love.

That's never gonna happen

no matter how hard people push me.

♪♪

My mom always tells me,

"The only thing is study hard.

Get the highest score in your class.

That's how you show others you're the best."

[Sighs]

That actually give me that competitive sense.

From a young age, I need to finish the task

one by one -- the priorities.

So I actually set finding true love

as the first task I need to finish.

[Indistinct chatter]

[Both speaking foreign language]

[Indistinct chatter]

♪♪

[Camera shutter snapping]

♪♪

Han Pan: [Speaking foreign language]

Man: Okay.

Han Pan: [Speaking foreign language]

[Indistinct chatter]

How you feel?

Huh? Say something.

The dreams are coming true.

Okay, you know,

one, two, three, four, five...

[Laughs]Seven people watching you.

Oh, yeah.

They're pressure, though. [Laughs]

I was born for this.

[Laughter]

You can't look better than me, okay?

Okay.

[Indistinct chatter]

♪ Hey, hey

♪♪

[Laughter]

[Camera beeps]

[Shutter snaps]

[Laughing]

[Camera shutter snaps]

Viona: Compared to our mother generation,

most of them didn't have, like... [Indistinct]

That's why, all the women,

they've been dying to have those photos

for a long, long time.

So, they actually put all the hope towards us.

That's why we're taking this responsibility, okay?

To present my beauty and my mother's beauty

[Laughs] and my grandmother's beauty.

♪♪

Yes, because that's the only time

they are that close to their dream, okay?

After the wedding photos, they are done.

[Laughs] They're back to the reality, okay?

They got to wash the rice

and do all the cleaning.

That's it, okay?

But once, you were that close to your dream,

your destination, which is there, okay?

You were almost touching it, and you left.

That's okay.Olivia: What is the dream?

The dream is to be wealthy and happy.

Dressed like that, doing nothing.

[Laughing]

[Motor rumbling][Brakes hiss]

[Camera shutters snapping]

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[Laughter]

[Objects shuffling]

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Li: [Speaking foreign language]

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[Indistinct chatter]

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[Camera shutters snapping]

[All speaking foreign language]

[Camera beeping]

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[All speaking foreign language]

[Laughs]

[Camera shutters snapping]

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[All speaking foreign language]

[Laughs]

[Camera shutters snapping]

Li: [Speaking foreign language]

[Camera shutter snaps]

♪♪

[Laughs]

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[Camera shutter snapping]

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Olivia: I can see a taxi. Let's get that one.

Yeah, I'm getting in.

♪♪

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[Men rapping in foreign language]

[Gears whirring]

♪♪

Hey.

♪♪

Yeah, long time, no see.

[Indistinct chatter]

But you look good!

[Laughs]You look fresh.

[Laughter]

♪♪

Eric: He's the wedding king.

Like, he's the Godfather of the wedding industry.

You know, he sells happiness.

♪♪

Woman: [Speaking foreign language]

[Speaking foreign language]

Don't go.

Don't go home.Olivia: You keep going?

Olivia: Every year?Every year.

Ah. Just, I --

I -- Really, we are...

Hmm. At my mind, always.

Just the ten name at my mind.

Always just the ten.And not ten cars.

Not ten cars. Three cars.

The three car, and the money,

and the cash,

and like this, maybe.

Now, what does that represent?

The lapel pin?

I introduce for you. Okay.

And when he says cash -- I told you the big checks,

but also, big stacks of cash, too.

♪♪

Allen: [Speaking foreign language throughout]

Olivia: Sit? Let's sit.

What do you think the difference is

between the Chinese dream and the American dream?

[Inhales] I think it's the same dream.

Mm, change your life.Change your life.

The same.

Everyone want to...

He told me yesterday -- He said, "When you're poor,

your dream is to have money, right?

And then, when you have money, you dream is --

It could be anything, really.

Now you have money, you can do anything you want.

So, whatever your dream is, you can accomplish it.

But when you're poor, your only dream

is to get money and be successful.

No poor person.

Just a poor man.

Hmm.

He don't know how to make money.

I can change everyone, if I want.

And how do you feel about that, Eric?

[Laughs] Eric?

He says there's one road.

You tell them --

Right? One road.

Just follow him, and I can be successful --

Or anybody can, really.

♪♪

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[Laughing]

[Speaking foreign language]

[Indistinct chatter]

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[Camera shutters snapping]

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[Indistinct chatter]

[Laughs]

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[Laughs]

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[Laughs]

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[Chuckles]

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Oooh!

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[Laughs]

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[Motor whining]

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David: We haven't actually set a date.

I mean, I only proposed to Jenny -- What was it?

Two weeks ago, or something?

Three weeks? Jenny: Yeah.

I want to have wedding photos under the water.

[Laughs] Yeah.

To wear a dress under the water

and, you know, then, we can --How would that work?

I've never heard of that being --

I really want to do that.

[Laughs] That's cool.

My thought is that

wedding photos should be taken at the wedding.

It's not something you do before

and stitch it up to make it look like it's a wedding

'cause they've put on the wedding dress

and the groomsman puts on his suit.

But you're not actually at a wedding,

so it means it's not a real photo.

It's fake, in that sense.

How much do you spend on the photos?

I've got no idea, to be honest. Oh.

it wouldn't be that much, I don't think.

Be like 1,000 quay?

I don't know. Under the water, maybe.

[Laughing] Oh, yeah. It'd be more expensive.

Maybe, yeah.

It wouldn't be too much.

2,000 or 3,000 quay?

What?! No, not that cheap.

Oh, okay. Not that cheap.

I can imagine not that cheap.

How much?Like 20 to 30K.

Oh.

What?

[Indistinct chatter]

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[Metal tin clinks]

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[Liquid pours]

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[All speaking foreign language]

[Laughs]

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[Plane engine roars]

♪♪

[Upbeat techno music playing]

♪♪

It's a nice room, right?

Pretty posh.

How about this bear?

♪♪

What's this for?

Little romantic.

♪♪

[Laughing] Got him on a leash there.

[All speaking foreign language]

Allen: [Whistling]

[Sighs]

[Whistling continues]

Hey, where's my tie?

[Laughs]

2:45.[Button clicks]

Now it's 2:49.

That's all right. Fashionably late, right?

Except the stars are there, so we should hurry up.

We gotta take pictures with the stars, right?

It's important. Okay.

Important for our brand,

important for appearance.

I forgot. Forgot?

Bow tie? Yeah.

[Chuckles] You look good.

It doesn't matter. Well, -- [Stammers]

Maybe at the cars.

You had it in the car?

Allen: Remember, last day,

we are at the fashion show and the finish --

[Laughs]You took it off?

Yes. Oh.

It's probably in the van.

[Elevator chiming]

♪♪

[Camera shutters snapping]

Woman: Mr. Allen Shi,

Chairman of Jiahao Investment Group.

Welcome.

Eric: I'd also like to extend a very warm welcome

to our founder, Shi Jiahao, Allen Shi.

He is the person that made this all happen.

Allen's vision is truly amazing.

From one small studio to this,

and to worldwide expansion.

Artiz Studio is where dreams come true, where --

People, they come to get their pictures taken,

and they become a princess.

That's our slogan.

Choose Artiz Studio to become a princess.

But we treat you like a celebrity.

And if you don't want to be a princess, you can be a star.

If you don't want to be a star, you can be anything you want,

and we give it to you.

That's what makes us different.

♪♪

[Cheers and applause]

Woman: Congratulations!

Wow!

Woman: [Singing in foreign language]

♪♪

Delete this one.

[Indistinct chatter]

Delete this one.

That's a really nice smile by me.

It doesn't happen very often.Yeah. Delete it.

Delete.

Delete, delete.

You just hate the pose.

Delete. Oh, come on.

You have to keep this one. No.

I hate this one. Delete.

[Sighs] But I love it.I don't like it.

Delete that one.

[Keys tapping][Scoffs]

Okay, yes.

Yes.

Delete it.No, we're keeping this one.

No, delete that one! We're keeping this one.

No-- what?! [Laughs]

Okay, delete it!

Come on.

This is a representation of our real life.

No, it's not.

That is, okay? Delete this one.

I don't like this one at all.

There's not even one cell in my body that likes it.

Go back to this one. Why are you skipping it?

Because it's -- I'm picking that one.

I put my foot down here. I want to be on the bicycle.

Viona: Delete.[Laughs]

Delete.It's begun.

Delete.

Ahh, this, ladies and gentlemen --Delete.

I like this one. Yes, I like it, too.

I like this one.I like this one.

Can you delete this one, please?

But this one is --I don't like it!

It's okay, honey. I got this.

Trust me, I got this.No!

This is adorable.

Delete this one, then.

We only need one, right? Yes.

Yeah, okay, cool.Oh, you get it.

Thank you.Yep, yep, yep.

[Indistinct chatter]

♪♪

Man: [Speaking foreign language]

[Camera shutters snapping]

Eric: My hopes when I came to China was, uh...

stay here for a year and see how it goes.

And so...

I think that's over.

Yeah, now it's five years, and...

I think that, uh...

I think in the beginning, at least for me --

in the beginning, um...

before I came here, I was like, "Yeah, maybe one year."

And then, after about a month, I was like, "I really like it.

Like, I feel accustomed to life here already."

And he always tells me,

"Oh, you're gonna get so much money," and --

You know, he's good at inspiring hope

and everything in you, so...

The dream is America, so...

Oh, it's China. [Laughs]

Yeah, it's different.Just hit another city,

and you hit another 20 million people.

Our boss is a big financial genius,

so I believe there is a lot to learn from him.

Yes. [Laughter]

Man: [Speaking foreign language]

[Indistinct chatter][Camera shutters snapping]

[Laughter]

Woman: Ugh!

♪♪

Allen: [Speaking foreign language]

♪♪

Eric: Born in Shanghai, but when he was a kid,

he went to Dongbei Province

'cause the government relocated his family.

His Mom was a teacher

and his father was an engineer, I believe.

And he says he only had --

maybe six months of the year had shoes,

Their house was too small for his whole family.

They were sleeping on the ground in the hallway.

Just eat rice every day. Very poor.

Very -- Kind of pitiful existence.

But he saw, you know -- he saw everything --

all the lights in the big city of Shanghai.

This was, you know, 20 years ago.

And then, he wanted the same thing

that everybody else seemed to have, in his eyes,

and that's when he says he kind of

saw his future being different.

It was another kind of epiphany for him, or --

"I don't want to worry about loose change in the ground.

I want to do something more or do something better."

And so, that was his goal.

♪♪

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[Indistinct chatter]

♪♪

[Speaking foreign language]

Yes.

Definitely in China.

Very bad in China.

Will: Getting married is for the parents.

It's not for the individuals.

Yes, it's not.

You've got to obey.

Is this the Single Market?Yep.

So, all the matchmakers are down there. Where?

Generally, they all wrap all around here.

It says, "Shanghainese lady."

Was born in 1986,

working in the university as a teacher.

Her parents say, "Happy to give away apartment

if anyone wish to marry her."

Basically, it's telling everyone, you know,

how old...

the female is, how tall, you know...

what's their career and what they are looking for,

how much income they're making.

This would be the last hope they could ever come up with

because your parents promised not to talk to you, like --

You know, if you ever know you wouldn't get married,

well, probably wouldn't consider to have you as a kid --

you know, for you to lose the whole family's face.

[Band playing upbeat string music]

"And look at you.

Don't you think you're beautiful

or young or whatever?

Youth and beauty are gonna leave you behind

and live a lonely life forever, ever, ever."

♪♪

You know, love from a daughter to a mother.

I mean, I was begging her to believe me, okay?

"I'm gonna find my happiness, okay?

No matter which way I'm gonna use,

I will be able to achieve something.

Just believe me, please.

I know it's been a long time."

I'm making up the stories.

You know, I'm really someone.

You know, "This guy, okay?"

I'm proving her some of the background

of the guy I'm seeing, okay?

To make her feel like there's a hope there, okay?

Even though sometimes

50% of what I've said is just a lie.

It almost hurt my feelings a little bit,

my mom trying so hard to push me.

It sometimes make me even start to question,

"Does she really love me?"

♪♪

Will: The community puts pressure on the mother.

When it comes to the girls,

the mother is the person that guides them --

that, you know, tells them what to do, essentially.

So, when she's misbehaving,

the mother is also reprimanded by society.

So you think that, "Oh, wow.

These mothers, they're going pretty extreme."

But if you can, imagine a society

that's pressing down the mother first,

and she's handing that over to the daughter.

[Laughs]

[Both speaking foreign language]

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[Distant car horn honking]

[All speaking foreign language]

[Object shuffles]

[Both speaking foreign language]

[Laughs]

[Indistinct music playing over speakers]

[Laughs]

[Laughter]

[Laughs]

♪♪

[Motors rumbling]

♪♪

[Indistinct chatter]

♪♪

[All speaking foreign language]

[Applause]

[Dramatic music plays over speakers]

[Music stops]

[Objects shuffling]

Allen: [Speaking foreign language]

Woman: [ Speaking in foreign language over P.A.]

♪♪

♪♪

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♪♪

♪♪

[Speaking in foreign language]

[Camera shutter clicks]

♪♪

[Indistinct chatter in distance]

[Jenny groans]

[Laughing, shivering]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Okay.

♪♪

[Camera shutter clicking]

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[Bottle spraying]

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Olivia: Can you ask her why?

Interpreter: [Speaking in foreign language]

♪♪

[Indistinct chatter]

♪♪

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[Birds chirping]

♪♪

[Popping]

[Indistinct chatter]

[Indistinct chatter]

[Shouting]

[Shouting, laughing]

[Laughing]

♪♪

♪♪

[Popping]

♪♪

♪♪

[Honks]

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[Honks]

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♪♪

♪♪

[Laughing]

[Indistinct chatter]

[Group singing "Bridal Chorus"]

[Camera shutter clicks]

[Speaking in foreign language, laughing]

[Knocks on door]

[Group exclaiming]

[Group cheering]

[Singing "Bridal Chorus"]

♪♪

♪♪

[Laughing]

[Laughing]

♪♪

[Knocks on door]

[Group laughing]

♪♪

[Camera shutters click]

[Indistinct chatter]

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[Dog barking]

♪♪

Interpreter: At the end of '80s, beginning of '90s,

they start to do wedding photos.

Olivia: Did she feel like she missed out?

[Speaking in foreign language]

Olivia: How is Viona going in Darwin?

♪♪

[Laptop ringing]

[Ringing stops]

Olivia: Hello!

'Sup?

Aww. Hello.

Hello.

Why exactly did you leave China?

Well, at least my mom is not here.

Yeah, mom even said, you know,

"Oh, you've been putting on so much weight

and you're not having the baby yet.

Will's gonna dump you."

You know? Oh, yeah.

"He hasn't brought you back to Australia yet.

You're not married, like, legally in Australia."

How do you perceive the pressure on Viona?

Well, it's definitely a big attack on her self-esteem,

so it's a sense of hopelessness

in Viona's case.

You know, she loves her mother,

You know, she takes her mother very seriously,

takes her advice on board.

And so when someone so close and dear to you

says, you know,

not the nicest things to you, or, you know,

I guess, pokes you in certain pain points,

it's very hard to --

So, be more specific, Will.

What sort of things were being said?

Like, what was the reaction?

Oh, just, like, you know,

"What are you doing with your time?"

Like, "You're not doing what you're supposed to be doing."

You know?

"You're not completing your next task."

"You're not taking it seriously enough."

Yeah.

♪♪

[Speaking in foreign language]

This is, like "Happiness industry.

Culture of globalization."

This is "stand at the height of the world,"

or "top of the world."

♪♪

Bohden: Allen's not content with just the Chinese market.

He wants to be an international company.

He wants to be known.

He wants face. He wants "mian dui."

He always says --

"Face is most important."

[Laughing]

Bohden: Thanks a lot for that.

Okay.

Olivia: What are you doing with those?

Put them in this bag and put them somewhere.

It's okay.

No problem.

[Groans]

No problem. Okay.

[Indistinct conversation]

Bohden: I think of course, he wants a better image for himself.

but on the other hand, this is the image he gives

to everybody, so...

He's a very public figure.

He's the face of the company,

and he's just very protective of his image.

He just doesn't want anybody to really

know anything about him besides what he controls.

Okay. Okay.

I think Alan would love to be himself

around you or the public or anybody else,

but he's just worried about his image.

He's worried about --

You know, if he portrays himself as soft to you,

then what about his employees?

Are they going to think he's soft as well?

He kind of rules with an iron fist at times,

and I think he wants to maintain his status.

[Speaking in distance]

Woman: Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome

to the chairman of Jiahao Group --

Mr. Allen Shi.

[Applause]

[Applause]

[Upbeat music plays]

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[Speaking in foreign language]

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Viona: I think for normal Chinese woman,

after you got married, the pressure will be reduced,

but for me, it actually increased.

Okay, the thing is, after I got married, everyone's like,

"Oh, have you given birth to babies yet?"

And 'cause I'm at this very embarrassing age

and everyone's like,

"Oh, so you just got married, and you know,

you haven't given birth yet.

Oh, so are you planning in the next two years?

If you come into our company,

you've got to sign this contract saying

you're not going to give birth in the next two years."

All these sort of things. It's very stressing.

Olivia: Have you got sort of like a strategy

of how to to not let the pressure affect you?

I don't.

Sorry, I got so emotional. [Sniffles]

Oh, honey.

Man: Someone get a tissue.

Do you feel scared to go back?

'Cause of the pressure that -- yeah.

But I have to follow Will.

He's a little bit worried about you.

Uh...

Yeah.

But there are things I have to face myself, there.

And has your mum taken a bit more pressure

off you recently? Um.

Mum's not pushing anymore. Yeah.

Oh, how did that change?

'Cause when I had that Skype interview,

it seemed like it was still quite strong.

Um...

It's, um... [Voice breaking]

Mum doesn't want to put extra pressure, cause...

Yeah.

It's actually affecting my health.

♪♪

Viona: When I came to Australia, I find

"This is cool."

You know, you have a lot of space

and you know, nobody's actually

trying so hard to put their thoughts on you.

There's no pressure.

You know, the trees can't give you pressure.

Yeah, so, it feels like you're free again,

but with less people, there's less opportunities as well.

I think I have to compromise freedom at this point of time.

Yeah, 'cause I compared

the opportunity with the freedom,

and I think opportunity actually means more now.

♪♪

I had those dream about, you know, when we come here

and he will find something here and we will settle down.

That's how I expected things to go.

I would be much happier if that actually happened,

and I really feel the pressure of getting older,

just because I'm approaching 30.

That's why I can't really take the failure.

Strong women, they wouldn't follow

what the society want them to do, and I'm mixed.

I wanted to be like that,

and I also wanted to do it in a traditional way.

That's why my life has been so tough.

♪♪

I just want to live my life, for once.

♪♪

I was thinking about this documentary.

They will be like, "Oh, look at this Chinese woman

just betrayed all of us

and told the world the truth and stuff."

♪♪

Maybe you shouldn't tell --

You should stop our story at our wedding day,

not telling people what's happened after the wedding.

See that happy ending and stuff.

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[Speaking in foreign language]

[Speaking in foreign language]

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[Rapping in foreign language]

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