Kimberly Novosel of Press Management Group

For 12th & Broad

In the documentary "HuanDao," premiering Oct. 19 in Nashville, filmmaker SueAnn Shiah, the daughter of immigrants from Taiwan, returns to the island in the hope of learning more about her place in the world. Her film also explores Taiwan on the big screen, opening up the conversation of what it means to be Taiwanese and also what it means to be American.

Shiah, a Nashville resident for six years, is a 2014 graduate from Belmont University, where she studied music business, music production and Chinese. While the film was shot in Taiwan, all the post-production, editing and mixing were completed in Nashville. The film will premiere at Scarritt Bennett Center at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19.

I chatted with Shiah over iced coffee (me) and hot green tea (her) about the making of the film, her experience biking Taiwan and the inability to prepare for joy.

KN: Tell me a little of your story! How did you get into the filmmaking? How did "HuanDao" come to be?

SS: It is my first feature-length project. Up until this point, I had mostly shot music videos, album trailers and Kickstarter campaign videos. ... In my time at Belmont, I started shooting music videos for some artists, which got my feet wet in production.

Between my sophomore and junior year, I decided to study abroad in Taiwan — I was there studying Chinese and interning for the Taiwan office of Sony/ATV Music Publishing. While I was there, I heard about huandao, which is a trip around the whole island, a circumnavigation, which a lot of young people do by bike. ... I decided at some point after I graduated, I would come back to Taiwan and do that bike trip. It wasn’t until my last semester of college, while I making my post-grad plans, that the idea came to me to make a documentary of the trip. ... Through art, we have the means of transporting people to places they may never go.

The entertainment industry in America also has a very significant lack of representation of Asian-Americans and their stories. ... Imagine living your entire life and never seeing anyone like you represented on television or on a stage. Over the years, I’ve become aware of that disparity. ... We won’t have more art if Asian-Americans don’t make art. This is what pushed me even more to take this idea that I had and make it real.

KN: I'm a Belmont alum as well! How has the Belmont and/or Nashville community shaped your filmmaking skills or experience?

SS: In many ways, Belmont prepared me to take on the business aspects of the film and the technical skills that enabled me to take charge of the production elements as well. ...

I thought it was going to take me a few months to finish the film after I got back from Taiwan. It ended up taking me over a year (every artist here in Nashville is laughing because they understand what this is like). The reality is that, as an artist (I am a filmmaker, but I think of myself first as an artist), you have to wake up every day and say, today, I am going to try, and every day you are given a hundred reasons to give up. Your ability to stare your fear, your insecurity, your poverty, and all the other things in the face and keep going is what makes an idea into a thing.

... In my years here in Nashville, I have found people who love me, really love me and care about me. I have found people who can look me in the face and say, “You are still valuable and important, even if you never finish your film. We will not stop loving you. But you also need to finish this for yourself.” They held me to a standard. They challenged me to be a better artist, a better filmmaker, a better producer and a better person.

KN: What is one of the greatest lessons you learned while making the film?

SS: In life, you can prepare for pain, but you can’t prepare for joy. For the four months leading up the film, I spent almost every day biking 20-40 miles to train, because I knew that the bike trip would be very physically tasking. But what I couldn’t prepare for was joy — the strangers I would meet who would become my friends, the flowers on the side of the road and the look of the sunrise from the mountains. ... If we act like we are entitled to joy, to happiness, it takes away that magic. In life, you can prepare for pain, but you can’t prepare for joy, and neither should you. Prepare for pain, so that when you encounter joy, you can savor it to its fullness.

KN: What advice would you give to hopeful creative entrepreneurs who are dreaming of or planning to step out their own?

SS: I think that community is important. When you “step out on your own,” whether it is in business or art, make sure you have people who are with you, supporting you. They don’t always need to know what you’re envisioning or working toward, even fully understanding what it is you’re trying to do, but you can’t do it alone, nor should you.

"HuanDao" will make its world premiere at Scarritt Bennett Center at 7 p.m. Oct. 19, followed by a Q&A with director/producer SueAnn Shiah. Learn more here.

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Kimberly Novosel is cofounder and artist manager at Press Management Group. With a degree in music business from Belmont University and a background in tour promotions and image development, she specializes in working with new artists on creating a stronger brand and a bigger audience. A fitness fanatic, Kimberly loves yoga, running and indoor cycling. When not in the office or the gym, you'll find her traveling. You can find her here on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or at kimberlynovosel.com.