On December 9, the 7th Hainan Island International Film Festival (HIIFF) welcomed the Masterclass of this edition's festival image ambassador, French actress, artist, and dancer Juliette Binoche. This Masterclass, co-presented by HIIFF, China Media Group CGTN, and Yangshipin, was themed "Beyond Acting: The Creative World of Juliette Binoche." Binoche engaged in an in-depth dialogue with CGTN host Liu Xin and the audience on artistic creation, life reflections, and cross-cultural understanding.
This is Binoche's second visit to Hainan. She joyfully stated, "The Hainan Island International Film Festival has been continuously developing. I am very much looking forward to what it will look like in the future, and I also look forward to sharing works here."
The Actor's Consciousness: Opening the Heart to Possibilities
Speaking of her experiences as an actor, Juliette Binoche believes that an actor's duty lies in becoming a vessel for conveying emotions, "using our existence to serve something greater."
"We need to open our hearts to immense possibilities and explore the greater unknown; this is my existence and my life. Through our filming, the purpose is to allow the audience to gain new experiences." Binoche stated that over her acting career of more than forty years, she has defined her role as a "transmitter," using her performance to connect the emotional expression in a film with the inner world of the audience.
Juliette Binoche
Binoche's acute emotional perception can be traced back to her childhood. She called this Masterclass "a sharing session of a little girl," believing that the cipher of artistic life is deeply rooted in early experiences. The loneliness of boarding school during her early years inversely fueled her intense desire "to perform, to play, to feel joy." "When you lack something, it constantly makes you want to draw upon what you need even more." This driving force stemming from "lack" became an inexhaustible emotional mine in her performing arts. Fortunately, her family provided her with fertile artistic soil, allowing her to find an outlet for self-expression in acting. At the age of fifteen, she firmly told her mother, "I want to truly act," thus embarking on an artistic journey of transforming her rich life experiences into powerful artistic energy.
Binoche also has unique insights regarding the situation of middle-aged female actors. She specifically mentioned the relationship between age and beauty: "The transformation of your existence is beauty itself." This statement is not only an acceptance of growing older but also an affirmation of the value of different stages of artistic life. She expressed with pleasant surprise that after so many years, there are still so many fans in China supporting her, which makes her deeply feel the enduring power of artistic connection.
The Guidance of Intuition: Staying True in Artistic Choices
"It is wrong to make decisions only with reason and not stay in touch with your true feelings." Over a career spanning more than forty years, Binoche has collaborated with numerous world-class directors. When asked how she chooses collaborative projects, Juliette Binoche's answer was very concise: "Rely on my heart, my intuition (to judge). And one should not be restricted by the system."
The audience was very curious about Binoche's experiences working with many different world-renowned directors. She shared her thoughts on this: "Every time I work with a new director, it's like opening a book and entering a character... Working with those outstanding directors has left me with very beautiful memories. They are all highly respectable people, and working with them is truly simple and joyful."
Juliette Binoche
In the process of working with different directors, Binoche has demonstrated a high degree of adaptability and unique conversational wisdom. She recalled the experience of filming Blue with Kieslowski—the director insisted on a method of "rehearsing five times, shooting only once," the intention of which was to capture the most authentic and irreproducible "present experience" after rehearsal. Facing a director like Abbas, who excels at eliciting the natural state of non-professional actors, Binoche had to learn how "not to act," but rather to arrive at truth through relaxation. She described that creative state as "free, with no imposed intention, and the filming process was fast and direct." This approach based on intuition rather than system has run throughout her entire career.
She believes that true artistic choices stem from a keen awareness of inner true feelings, rather than rational calculation and analysis. "Belief is very important. It allows you to use your own mind and attention to create your own reality." As an actor, Binoche's understanding of emotion goes beyond the technical level, penetrating into the essence of existence. When asked how she transitions between different roles, she admitted that it requires "a lot of preparation and training; you have to forget everything you have learned, and then quickly enter different emotional states."
The Metaphor of the Wall: Finding Artistic Balance Within Boundaries
During this edition of the HIIFF, Juliette Binoche also presented her directorial debut, In-I In Motion, to the audience, and the transition from a world-renowned actress to a director was undoubtedly a key topic of this Masterclass.
"When you see a dramatic scene in a film, starting from emotion is the true key. The truth and the solutions are contained within the emotions." Binoche specifically discussed the design of the "wall" in her directorial debut In-I In Motion. "A wall appears at the end of the documentary, linking the end of the documentary and the beginning of the dance piece," she explained. "I like this feeling of connection because it opens up the two worlds. Through this wall, the music and story of the entire dance piece unfold in real time."
This wall is not merely a physical structure, but a profound creative metaphor. "During rehearsals, I needed this wall to not fall," Binoche said. Here, the wall becomes a support and a boundary, serving as both protection and challenge, symbolizing the necessary balance between structure and freedom in the creative process.
This understanding of boundaries and connections is also reflected in her views on cross-cultural creation. Binoche shared her love for Chinese culture, believing that exchanges between different countries can stimulate creativity, and the inspiration Hainan gave her is precisely a manifestation of such cross-cultural dialogue.
At the end of the Masterclass, Binoche extended a sincere invitation to all audience members and creators: "I hope this film can take you to unlock and enter places you have never been before." This applies not only to her work In-I In Motion, but also represents an expectation for all artistic experiences—art should lead us beyond the known to explore the unknown.
From intuitive choices to emotional depth, from the connectivity of performance to the artistry of existence, from the metaphor of the wall to a cross-cultural community, Binoche's sharing illustrates an artist's creative journey of continuous exploration and constant breakthrough. Her artistic philosophy is not only applicable to filmmaking, but can also serve as a wisdom for life: finding the balance point that can support us so we "do not fall"—between rules and freedom, between reason and intuition, between individual expression and collective resonance.
HIIFF Hainan Island International Film Festival December 11, 2025 20:15 Hainan
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