论文部分内容阅读
“我是一个中间人，介乎梦想与生活之间，介乎祖国与美国之间、中国菜与西餐之间、不年轻与不老之间。我是一个心中有着一条永不窒息的爱的大河的人。”
——作者题记
一
在美国西海岸，有片神奇的土地，坐落于旧金山南海湾，任何地图上都没有它的名字，但却全球闻名——那就是硅谷。1971年之前，这里曾经是广袤的果园，而现在则是全世界的高科技圣地。
100多年前，这里的中国人多为淘金客、铁路工、洗衣工……100多年后的今天，中国人成为大学教授、企业CEO甚至政治人物。硅谷改变了世界，中国人改变了硅谷。我们的故事就从这里开始。
纪录片《硅谷中国人》将全面记录中国人在硅谷生活的真实现状，他们是在美打拼的华人精英中最具代表性的一群人，展现了中国人的民族奋斗精神，和中国人对于这个世界的影响力。我们从2015年开始谋划《硅谷中国人》纪录片系列，通过影像来使中国人在美国硅谷的历史更加丰富和更具启发性，试图通过纪录片的方式，讲述海外中国人奋斗的历史和梦想的力量，凝聚形成的海外中国人的奋斗新精神。
《硅谷中国人》第一集《力量》在斯坦福大学首映后，《中国网》记者问我，片子最想表达的是什么？是否也是希望给国内或者出国的中国年轻一代树立一种榜样，让他们从中得到某种启迪和教育？
我回答道：“硅谷改变了世界，中国人改变了硅谷。这些都需要也应该被呈现出来，让世人知道。我希望通过这部纪录片开拓中国人的视野，让硅谷的中国人在历史上留下过去从未有过的影像。因为，如果你不懂历史，你就一无所知。如果你不记录历史，历史就永远沉默。社会化媒介的使命是诠释现在和未来，影视艺术的任务是要永久地改变世界。我的本能直觉告诉自己，通过制作这个大型的系列纪录片，可以记录各行各业的旅美中国人故事，我认识到了制作纪录片电影可以是一个使命”。
这些在硅谷成功的中国人企业家，是在硅谷打拼的中国人的一面旗帜，代表了旅美中国人的奋斗精神。现在有越来越多的中国年轻人来到美国，接触到了创业创新的环境，每个人都需要被点燃创业精神。但是中国的孩子出国后，接触到了西方的文化和教育，回国或者回家以后怎么跟自己的父母和家庭连接，家长怎么找到一个合适的途径和方式去跟孩子连接，这是一个很大的问题，也是《硅谷中国人》第二集《凝聚》要重点展示的内容。更重要的是，这些中国人精英之所以成为精英，也和家庭成长环境和教育环境有很直接的关系，这也是我们想探讨的：他们来自何方，受过什么样的教育？到底是哪些因素在影响和成就他们？从根本上挖掘他们成功的因素，或许能给年轻一代一点启示。
二
《硅谷中国人》系列纪录片每集我们计划拍4位被记录者，拍完10集后，计划再拍同名大电影。
第一集取名《力量》于2016年完成，获得戴维斯国际电影节“杰出企业家纪录片”奖。在斯坦福大学首映后，在美国和中国的许多城市展影，包括旧金山、洛杉矶和纽约，北京、上海和昆明。《硅谷中国人》用影像讲述了一群生活在硅谷的中国人鲜为人知的故事，全面记录了Trust look移动安全公司创始人张亮、斯坦福大学材料科学和工程学院教授崔屹、幼发拉底全球孵化器创始人沈赐恩和艾必通（Epitomics）公司创始人余国良在硅谷生活的真实现状，他们是在美国打拼的华人中颇具代表性的人物。
《硅谷中国人》第二集取名《凝聚》，将镜头对准3位杰出的华裔青少年和一位华裔美国官员，讲述教育的力量， 透视硅谷华人在子女教育上的努力和心得。本集已于2019年在全球巡影。周知方（Vincent Zhou），在旧金山帕罗奥图出生并长大，是美国花样滑冰运动员，2019年花滑世锦赛铜牌得主。来自帕罗奥图和斯坦福大学计算机科学专业的Kevin Ji是美国前第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马的BetterMakeRoom（旨在帮助年轻一代获得更高学历的一个项目）的董事会成员，这个教育委员会为美国国家教育领导者解决教育系统中的关键问题提供建议。斯蒂芬妮·张是著名物理学教授和诺贝尔奖提名人张守晟的女儿。她和她的朋友们在斯坦福大学上三年级的时候， 骑车到美国各地为贫困儿童办STEM（科学、技术、工程、数学四门学科英文字母的缩写）讲习班。最后的人物是Shao Yang，第一位被选入加州弗里蒙联合学区教育委员会的大陆出生的中国人。他们的成长和教育经历生动了他们的人生，使他们有能力打造成功的道路。在讲述他们的故事时，我们阐明了硅谷教育经历的独特“公式”。
三
纪录片是帮助人们寻找真相的工具。如今回头看，虽然两集《硅谷中国人》仍有很多不足，但它基本完整表达了我们一直想要表达的意思：探讨硅谷的中国文化及华人在美国的意义。
《硅谷中国人》不是我的纪录片处女作，在此之前，我拍了《哀牢山的信仰》，将镜头对准生病后几度想自杀的母亲。当时我特别矛盾，感觉这样做很残忍。但是当我终于拿起摄像机，妈妈就不再是妈妈，我也不再是我。我是一个叙述者，我的观点不重要，而作为被拍摄对象的妈妈，她会表达自己的想法。就这样，我反而神奇地解脱了。
从那一刻起，我知道了拍纪录片，其实和我的写作没有本质区别，只不过媒介从文字换成了影像，我将此称之为“影像写作”。而影像写作，因为其客观性和真实性，成为帮助人们寻找真相的工具。我们用影像来记录生命、历史、文化，也用它来升华欢愉、寂寞、恨与爱，这其实也是在写作，探索心中的价值追求，同时在这个过程中感受到社会的深深焦虑和不安。
《哀牢山的信仰》获得了“世界独立电影节的纪录片最佳家庭故事奖”和“洛杉矶中美电影节入围奖”。
虽然早在大学期间就接触过电影，1988年曾参与拍摄由吴文光导演的纪录片《流浪北京》，但直到2014年之前，我主要是用文字在記录和表达。写了大量的文学作品，人们熟知的我，是旅美女作家张慈。 2014年底，一個偶然的机会，我和几个美国人拍了一部纪录片叫《硅谷千禧年》。在这个过程中，我发现，硅谷蜚声国际，但这部片子里没有中国人的代表。对此，《硅谷千禧年》主创给我的解释是，中国人在硅谷的代表性不够突出。
硅谷那么多中国人，而且他们基本都是北大、清华、中国科技大学等国内顶尖知名学府的高材生，可是很少听到他们的声音和名字，而且我也很好奇，他们在硅谷究竟在干什么？他们有着怎样的故事？他们为硅谷乃至世界的经济、社会、科技发展作出过什么样的贡献？我就特别想拍一部这样的电影。
于是我自己买了台摄像机，2015年3月10日，在美国一个古老的西班牙式剧院里宣布《硅谷中国人》开拍。但是，开机以后很快我就蔫了，因为资金和团队不到位，一切看起来都难以为继。合作伙伴临时退出，让我横下一条心，自己端着摄像机去拍街区、拍工厂和拍街上的人，“见到中国人就打开机器。”
之后9个月的时间，除了自己端着机器到处转悠，就是开会找资金、找团队和写剧本，基本都无果。庆幸的是，后来遇到了29岁的新锐导演李玉和助理杨雪，年轻、充满朝气又想法前卫的两个年轻人把铺盖一卷搬到了我家，一伙人从此工作、生活在一起。
2016年5月28日，《硅谷中国人》第一集终于首映了，全程历时445天，拍摄剪辑3578个小时，采访了33位在硅谷打拼的精英人物。当天，在斯坦福大学剧院，400多人到场观影。斯坦福大学是硅谷发源地，是硅谷的“心脏”，所以这里是首映地点的最佳选择。在首映式上，我将拍摄《硅谷中国人》的第一部摄影机送给了第一集的主人翁之一的沈赐恩。
看过首映的观众伊娃·张说：“《硅谷中国人》举办首映式应该是湾区中国人历史上最有意义和深远影响的一个活动，所有的硅谷中国人，不，所有的中国人都应该找机会来观看这部纪录片！这是一部思想性颇好，水平很高的纪录片！片中四个人的故事都充满了深刻的矛盾和真理，‘一切都需要被科技改变’”。
（本文图片由作者提供）
Silicon Valley Chinese： The Stories Behind
I find myself somewhere between dream and life， between China and the United States， between Chinese food and Western dishes， between not young and not old， but with a river of love in my heart that will never stagnate.
There is an amazing land on the South Bay of San Francisco， not marked on any map， but known as an international tech hub—Silicon Valley. More than a century ago， the Chinese here were mostly gold miners， railway workers， laundrymen...now they are professors， CEOs and even politicians. This is where my story begins.
Chinese in Silicon Valley are the most characteristic group of Chinese community living in the United States. With the ethnic spirit of diligence and striving， they are showing how the Chinese people are influencing the world. With the aspiration to comprehensively record their struggling history and the power of achieving their dreams through images， I started to plan the documentary Silicon Valley Chinese back in 2015.
After the premiere of the first episode “The Power” at Stanford University， a reporter from China.org.cn asked： “what do you mainly want to convey to the public through the film？ Is it to set a model for the young generation of China at home and abroad？”
I replied： “Silicon Valley had changed the world and the Chinese had changed Silicon Valley. All these needed to be known to the public. My instinct told me that by making this large-scale documentary series， I could collect and record various stories of Chinese people from all walks of life in the United States. I felt that I have the duty and mission to let the world know their work， life and contributions.” Nowadays， more and more young Chinese come to the United States. When these young people are exposed to Western culture and education， how can they connect with their parents and families when they return？ This is the problem that cannot be ignored and this is also the issue tackled in the second episode “The Focus”. Digging into the success factors of these Chinese elites may be able to give the younger generation more inspiration.
We interviewed four characters in each episode， and planned to make a big movie with the same name after ten episodes. The first episode “The Power”， completed in 2016， won the Outstanding Entrepreneur Documentary Award during the Davis International Film Festival. We showed career development of four prominent Chinese entrepreneurs living in Silicon Valley in this episode： Zhang Liang—founder of Trust Look Mobile Security， Cui Yi—a Stanford material science professor， Shen Ci’en—founder and CEO of Ufrate Global Incubator and Yu Guoliang—founder of Epitomics.
The second episode focuses on the education experience of three outstanding Chinese-American teenagers and one Chinese-American official. Vincent Zhou， born in Palo Alto， won the bronze medal of World Figure Skating Championship in 2019. Kevin Ji from Palo Alto is a computer science student at Stanford and also a board member of Michelle Obama’s BetterMakeRoom.org. Stephanie Zhang is daughter of the famous physicist Zhang Shoucheng. And Shao Yang is the first man born in China to become an elected official in the Bay Area in 2014. Throughout the story of these four characters， we did find that there was some kind of secret formula of educational success for Silicon Valley Chinese families.
Documentary was a tool to help people find truth. Although the two episodes of Silicon Valley Chinese fell short of the original expectation， they did achieve our goal to explore the ethnic Chinese culture in Silicon Valley. Actually， this was not my debut documentary. I had produced The Faith in Ailao Mountain earlier to show my concerns on the life of those sick mothers who had attempted suicide several times. I was conflicted at that beginning till I realized as a narrator， my opinion didn’t matter at all and the characters in the film would express themselves. Documentary was just a different way of writing， which was much familiar to me and also the way I had been well known to the public before 2014.
At the end of 2014， I shot a documentary called Silicon Valley Millennium with some Americans by chance. There was no Chinese in this film since the filmmakers thought the contribution of Chinese in Silicon Valley was not remarkable. This aroused my curiosity to explore the story of Chinese in Silicon Valley， most of whom came from top universities in China， but their voices could be rarely heard. Enthusiastically I threw myself into preparing for a documentary on this. I bought a new camera and made an announcement in an old Spanish theater in America that the shooting of Silicon Valley Chinese was officially started on March 10， 2015. In the following nine months， I had to face the difficulties of lacking money and the withdrawal of partners until I came across the young director Li Yu and his assistant Yang Xue. We worked and stayed together to make our every effort to complete this documentary.
After 445 days， 3，578 hours’ shooting， editing and interviewing 33 Chinese elites in Silicon Valley， Silicon Valley Chinese finally premiered on May 28， 2016 at a theater of Stanford， the birthplace and heart of Silicon Valley. Over 400 audiences attended this premiere.
Eva Zhang， one of those who watched the premiere， said： “the premiere of Silicon Valley Chinese should be considered the most significant event in the history of Chinese people in the bay area. Chinese living in Silicon Valley—all Chinese people—should watch it！”
Zhang Ci is a writer， documentary director and producer. After graduating from the Department of Chinese， Yunnan University in 1983， she began making documentaries， participating in Bumming in Beijing： The Last Dreamers directed by Wu Wenguang in 1988. In 2015， her documentary The Faith in Ailao Mountain won multiple awards at the World’s Independent Film Festival， Chinese American Film Festival （CAFF） and San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival （SFNCFF）.
——作者题记
一
在美国西海岸，有片神奇的土地，坐落于旧金山南海湾，任何地图上都没有它的名字，但却全球闻名——那就是硅谷。1971年之前，这里曾经是广袤的果园，而现在则是全世界的高科技圣地。
100多年前，这里的中国人多为淘金客、铁路工、洗衣工……100多年后的今天，中国人成为大学教授、企业CEO甚至政治人物。硅谷改变了世界，中国人改变了硅谷。我们的故事就从这里开始。
纪录片《硅谷中国人》将全面记录中国人在硅谷生活的真实现状，他们是在美打拼的华人精英中最具代表性的一群人，展现了中国人的民族奋斗精神，和中国人对于这个世界的影响力。我们从2015年开始谋划《硅谷中国人》纪录片系列，通过影像来使中国人在美国硅谷的历史更加丰富和更具启发性，试图通过纪录片的方式，讲述海外中国人奋斗的历史和梦想的力量，凝聚形成的海外中国人的奋斗新精神。
《硅谷中国人》第一集《力量》在斯坦福大学首映后，《中国网》记者问我，片子最想表达的是什么？是否也是希望给国内或者出国的中国年轻一代树立一种榜样，让他们从中得到某种启迪和教育？
我回答道：“硅谷改变了世界，中国人改变了硅谷。这些都需要也应该被呈现出来，让世人知道。我希望通过这部纪录片开拓中国人的视野，让硅谷的中国人在历史上留下过去从未有过的影像。因为，如果你不懂历史，你就一无所知。如果你不记录历史，历史就永远沉默。社会化媒介的使命是诠释现在和未来，影视艺术的任务是要永久地改变世界。我的本能直觉告诉自己，通过制作这个大型的系列纪录片，可以记录各行各业的旅美中国人故事，我认识到了制作纪录片电影可以是一个使命”。
这些在硅谷成功的中国人企业家，是在硅谷打拼的中国人的一面旗帜，代表了旅美中国人的奋斗精神。现在有越来越多的中国年轻人来到美国，接触到了创业创新的环境，每个人都需要被点燃创业精神。但是中国的孩子出国后，接触到了西方的文化和教育，回国或者回家以后怎么跟自己的父母和家庭连接，家长怎么找到一个合适的途径和方式去跟孩子连接，这是一个很大的问题，也是《硅谷中国人》第二集《凝聚》要重点展示的内容。更重要的是，这些中国人精英之所以成为精英，也和家庭成长环境和教育环境有很直接的关系，这也是我们想探讨的：他们来自何方，受过什么样的教育？到底是哪些因素在影响和成就他们？从根本上挖掘他们成功的因素，或许能给年轻一代一点启示。
二
《硅谷中国人》系列纪录片每集我们计划拍4位被记录者，拍完10集后，计划再拍同名大电影。
第一集取名《力量》于2016年完成，获得戴维斯国际电影节“杰出企业家纪录片”奖。在斯坦福大学首映后，在美国和中国的许多城市展影，包括旧金山、洛杉矶和纽约，北京、上海和昆明。《硅谷中国人》用影像讲述了一群生活在硅谷的中国人鲜为人知的故事，全面记录了Trust look移动安全公司创始人张亮、斯坦福大学材料科学和工程学院教授崔屹、幼发拉底全球孵化器创始人沈赐恩和艾必通（Epitomics）公司创始人余国良在硅谷生活的真实现状，他们是在美国打拼的华人中颇具代表性的人物。
《硅谷中国人》第二集取名《凝聚》，将镜头对准3位杰出的华裔青少年和一位华裔美国官员，讲述教育的力量， 透视硅谷华人在子女教育上的努力和心得。本集已于2019年在全球巡影。周知方（Vincent Zhou），在旧金山帕罗奥图出生并长大，是美国花样滑冰运动员，2019年花滑世锦赛铜牌得主。来自帕罗奥图和斯坦福大学计算机科学专业的Kevin Ji是美国前第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马的BetterMakeRoom（旨在帮助年轻一代获得更高学历的一个项目）的董事会成员，这个教育委员会为美国国家教育领导者解决教育系统中的关键问题提供建议。斯蒂芬妮·张是著名物理学教授和诺贝尔奖提名人张守晟的女儿。她和她的朋友们在斯坦福大学上三年级的时候， 骑车到美国各地为贫困儿童办STEM（科学、技术、工程、数学四门学科英文字母的缩写）讲习班。最后的人物是Shao Yang，第一位被选入加州弗里蒙联合学区教育委员会的大陆出生的中国人。他们的成长和教育经历生动了他们的人生，使他们有能力打造成功的道路。在讲述他们的故事时，我们阐明了硅谷教育经历的独特“公式”。
三
纪录片是帮助人们寻找真相的工具。如今回头看，虽然两集《硅谷中国人》仍有很多不足，但它基本完整表达了我们一直想要表达的意思：探讨硅谷的中国文化及华人在美国的意义。
《硅谷中国人》不是我的纪录片处女作，在此之前，我拍了《哀牢山的信仰》，将镜头对准生病后几度想自杀的母亲。当时我特别矛盾，感觉这样做很残忍。但是当我终于拿起摄像机，妈妈就不再是妈妈，我也不再是我。我是一个叙述者，我的观点不重要，而作为被拍摄对象的妈妈，她会表达自己的想法。就这样，我反而神奇地解脱了。
从那一刻起，我知道了拍纪录片，其实和我的写作没有本质区别，只不过媒介从文字换成了影像，我将此称之为“影像写作”。而影像写作，因为其客观性和真实性，成为帮助人们寻找真相的工具。我们用影像来记录生命、历史、文化，也用它来升华欢愉、寂寞、恨与爱，这其实也是在写作，探索心中的价值追求，同时在这个过程中感受到社会的深深焦虑和不安。
《哀牢山的信仰》获得了“世界独立电影节的纪录片最佳家庭故事奖”和“洛杉矶中美电影节入围奖”。
虽然早在大学期间就接触过电影，1988年曾参与拍摄由吴文光导演的纪录片《流浪北京》，但直到2014年之前，我主要是用文字在記录和表达。写了大量的文学作品，人们熟知的我，是旅美女作家张慈。 2014年底，一個偶然的机会，我和几个美国人拍了一部纪录片叫《硅谷千禧年》。在这个过程中，我发现，硅谷蜚声国际，但这部片子里没有中国人的代表。对此，《硅谷千禧年》主创给我的解释是，中国人在硅谷的代表性不够突出。
硅谷那么多中国人，而且他们基本都是北大、清华、中国科技大学等国内顶尖知名学府的高材生，可是很少听到他们的声音和名字，而且我也很好奇，他们在硅谷究竟在干什么？他们有着怎样的故事？他们为硅谷乃至世界的经济、社会、科技发展作出过什么样的贡献？我就特别想拍一部这样的电影。
于是我自己买了台摄像机，2015年3月10日，在美国一个古老的西班牙式剧院里宣布《硅谷中国人》开拍。但是，开机以后很快我就蔫了，因为资金和团队不到位，一切看起来都难以为继。合作伙伴临时退出，让我横下一条心，自己端着摄像机去拍街区、拍工厂和拍街上的人，“见到中国人就打开机器。”
之后9个月的时间，除了自己端着机器到处转悠，就是开会找资金、找团队和写剧本，基本都无果。庆幸的是，后来遇到了29岁的新锐导演李玉和助理杨雪，年轻、充满朝气又想法前卫的两个年轻人把铺盖一卷搬到了我家，一伙人从此工作、生活在一起。
2016年5月28日，《硅谷中国人》第一集终于首映了，全程历时445天，拍摄剪辑3578个小时，采访了33位在硅谷打拼的精英人物。当天，在斯坦福大学剧院，400多人到场观影。斯坦福大学是硅谷发源地，是硅谷的“心脏”，所以这里是首映地点的最佳选择。在首映式上，我将拍摄《硅谷中国人》的第一部摄影机送给了第一集的主人翁之一的沈赐恩。
看过首映的观众伊娃·张说：“《硅谷中国人》举办首映式应该是湾区中国人历史上最有意义和深远影响的一个活动，所有的硅谷中国人，不，所有的中国人都应该找机会来观看这部纪录片！这是一部思想性颇好，水平很高的纪录片！片中四个人的故事都充满了深刻的矛盾和真理，‘一切都需要被科技改变’”。
（本文图片由作者提供）
Silicon Valley Chinese： The Stories Behind
I find myself somewhere between dream and life， between China and the United States， between Chinese food and Western dishes， between not young and not old， but with a river of love in my heart that will never stagnate.
There is an amazing land on the South Bay of San Francisco， not marked on any map， but known as an international tech hub—Silicon Valley. More than a century ago， the Chinese here were mostly gold miners， railway workers， laundrymen...now they are professors， CEOs and even politicians. This is where my story begins.
Chinese in Silicon Valley are the most characteristic group of Chinese community living in the United States. With the ethnic spirit of diligence and striving， they are showing how the Chinese people are influencing the world. With the aspiration to comprehensively record their struggling history and the power of achieving their dreams through images， I started to plan the documentary Silicon Valley Chinese back in 2015.
After the premiere of the first episode “The Power” at Stanford University， a reporter from China.org.cn asked： “what do you mainly want to convey to the public through the film？ Is it to set a model for the young generation of China at home and abroad？”
I replied： “Silicon Valley had changed the world and the Chinese had changed Silicon Valley. All these needed to be known to the public. My instinct told me that by making this large-scale documentary series， I could collect and record various stories of Chinese people from all walks of life in the United States. I felt that I have the duty and mission to let the world know their work， life and contributions.” Nowadays， more and more young Chinese come to the United States. When these young people are exposed to Western culture and education， how can they connect with their parents and families when they return？ This is the problem that cannot be ignored and this is also the issue tackled in the second episode “The Focus”. Digging into the success factors of these Chinese elites may be able to give the younger generation more inspiration.
We interviewed four characters in each episode， and planned to make a big movie with the same name after ten episodes. The first episode “The Power”， completed in 2016， won the Outstanding Entrepreneur Documentary Award during the Davis International Film Festival. We showed career development of four prominent Chinese entrepreneurs living in Silicon Valley in this episode： Zhang Liang—founder of Trust Look Mobile Security， Cui Yi—a Stanford material science professor， Shen Ci’en—founder and CEO of Ufrate Global Incubator and Yu Guoliang—founder of Epitomics.
The second episode focuses on the education experience of three outstanding Chinese-American teenagers and one Chinese-American official. Vincent Zhou， born in Palo Alto， won the bronze medal of World Figure Skating Championship in 2019. Kevin Ji from Palo Alto is a computer science student at Stanford and also a board member of Michelle Obama’s BetterMakeRoom.org. Stephanie Zhang is daughter of the famous physicist Zhang Shoucheng. And Shao Yang is the first man born in China to become an elected official in the Bay Area in 2014. Throughout the story of these four characters， we did find that there was some kind of secret formula of educational success for Silicon Valley Chinese families.
Documentary was a tool to help people find truth. Although the two episodes of Silicon Valley Chinese fell short of the original expectation， they did achieve our goal to explore the ethnic Chinese culture in Silicon Valley. Actually， this was not my debut documentary. I had produced The Faith in Ailao Mountain earlier to show my concerns on the life of those sick mothers who had attempted suicide several times. I was conflicted at that beginning till I realized as a narrator， my opinion didn’t matter at all and the characters in the film would express themselves. Documentary was just a different way of writing， which was much familiar to me and also the way I had been well known to the public before 2014.
At the end of 2014， I shot a documentary called Silicon Valley Millennium with some Americans by chance. There was no Chinese in this film since the filmmakers thought the contribution of Chinese in Silicon Valley was not remarkable. This aroused my curiosity to explore the story of Chinese in Silicon Valley， most of whom came from top universities in China， but their voices could be rarely heard. Enthusiastically I threw myself into preparing for a documentary on this. I bought a new camera and made an announcement in an old Spanish theater in America that the shooting of Silicon Valley Chinese was officially started on March 10， 2015. In the following nine months， I had to face the difficulties of lacking money and the withdrawal of partners until I came across the young director Li Yu and his assistant Yang Xue. We worked and stayed together to make our every effort to complete this documentary.
After 445 days， 3，578 hours’ shooting， editing and interviewing 33 Chinese elites in Silicon Valley， Silicon Valley Chinese finally premiered on May 28， 2016 at a theater of Stanford， the birthplace and heart of Silicon Valley. Over 400 audiences attended this premiere.
Eva Zhang， one of those who watched the premiere， said： “the premiere of Silicon Valley Chinese should be considered the most significant event in the history of Chinese people in the bay area. Chinese living in Silicon Valley—all Chinese people—should watch it！”
Zhang Ci is a writer， documentary director and producer. After graduating from the Department of Chinese， Yunnan University in 1983， she began making documentaries， participating in Bumming in Beijing： The Last Dreamers directed by Wu Wenguang in 1988. In 2015， her documentary The Faith in Ailao Mountain won multiple awards at the World’s Independent Film Festival， Chinese American Film Festival （CAFF） and San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival （SFNCFF）.