# Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You Canonical: https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You, 2023–2024. Film, rehearsal, live performance. He Fa’s role: Initiator, producer and editor; direction and screenplay collectively created by the crew. 2023–2024 / Film, rehearsal, live performance A collective film grows through recruitment, rehearsal and public performance. How does shared time enter the edit? Human Surrender, 2023–2024. Film still. HE FA’S ROLE Initiator, producer and editor; direction and screenplay collectively created by the crew ## Work record Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You, 2023–2024. Film, rehearsal, live performance. He Fa’s role: Initiator, producer and editor; direction and screenplay collectively created by the crew. Work / series Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You Date 2023–2024 Medium Film, rehearsal, live performance He Fa’s role Initiator, producer and editor; direction and screenplay collectively created by the crew Catalogue section Selected works Cite this record: Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You · 2023–2024 · Initiator, producer and editor; direction and screenplay collectively created by the crew · [https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender) [2023-06-03 | Original Chinese source: 这是一篇关于《人类投降派》的招募文案](https://p4theater.cn/articles/2023/2023-06-03-这是一篇关于-人类投降派-的招募文案-7e7a17a8ef/) [2023-08-18 | Original Chinese source: 艺术公演 |《人类投降派》始末——外星人还会再次降临吗？](https://p4theater.cn/articles/2023/2023-08-18-艺术公演-人类投降派-始末-外星人还会再次降临吗-76791e9eb6/) [2023-08-25 | Original Chinese source: p4终章 | 最后的排练公演 | 爱、死亡、人类投降派](https://p4theater.cn/articles/2023/2023-08-25-p4终章-最后的排练公演-爱-死亡-人类投降派-7fc3f2ef15/) WORK WORLD / OPEN FROM HERE When shared experience becomes a film, who can still answer within it? Year 2023–2024 Medium Film, moving-image theatre, performance and spatial narrative, approx. 156 min Role Initiator / Producer / Editor; direction and screenplay collectively created by the crew Further reading The project moved through casting, rehearsal, filming and public performance in 2023; an approximately 156-minute film cut was completed in 2024. ## Project statement Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You took shape through casting, rehearsal and filming in 2023. Participants faced one another and the camera; initiating, performing, filming and directing intersected within a shared creation process. At 19:30 on 26 August 2023, The Last Rehearsal took place at Ciyu Bookstore (Middle Theater branch). The final performance before filming wrapped combined theatre, performance art, live sound, installation, audience interaction and continuous photography; material from the event entered the film. After completing the film, He Fa continued to work with its voices, dialogue, breath, images and excerpts through sound sessions, explanatory shorts and frame-by-frame notes. The film's festival journey has three stages: selection by Filmmaker Sessions Volume 8, Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival, the Summer edition of the Los Angeles Film and Documentary Awards, and TheaterFilmFest - FIKTIVA in 2024; a place in the Boden International Film Festival's 2nd Quarter semifinal the same year; and Best Feature Film at the Esoteric Film Festival in 2025. FILM & SOUND ## Trailer and sound excerpt from Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You After completing the approximately 156-minute film cut, He Fa continued to work with its dialogue, breath, voices and ambient sound. Watch the trailer and listen to an audio excerpt developed from the film’s sound material. ### Do You Need Me to Say It for You? — sound rewrite excerpt A line through the work ## Collective credits in the film The preserved 4G version credits He Fa as initiator at 02:34:12, with direction and screenplay collectively created by the crew. At 02:34:50, He Fa is credited as producer and editor, with contributions to cinematography, art direction, rehearsal texts and subtitles. These two frames preserve the film’s own credits. End credits at 02:34:12: initiator and collective direction and screenplay. End credits at 02:34:50: production, editing and shared contributions. ## June 2023: an initial three-part film proposal He Fa’s recruitment text of June 3 proposed three parts: long-take rehearsals in a black stage space; a camera following performers into everyday life; and a public performance recording their interaction with an audience. Three people were sought to play a director and two leads, with work planned for June–August. This proposal documents an early method rather than the final film’s structure, cast size or duration. ## From a borrowed camera to shifting production roles The production account of August 18 names Yun Jianhui as an early initiator and cinematographer. Zhou Jinsong and Liu Jinqi recorded the process while contributing ideas, scripts and production work. He Fa describes roles changing during the work: actors could direct, camera operators could perform, and recorders also acted within events. These contemporary credits preserve individual contributions alongside the shifting structure of the collaboration. ## The pre-performance credits for The Last Rehearsal The August 25 announcement scheduled the film’s concluding performance for 19:30 on August 26 at Ciyu Bookstore’s Inside-Out Theatre branch. It lists Huang Meng, Sun Jiarui and Xu Shuai as performers; Yun Jianhui as recorder; Zhao Xuan, Ru Meng and Zhao Ziyi as musicians; and He Fa as the behind-the-scenes producer. The plan combined theatre, performance art, live sound and installation, with camera documentation throughout. These are the roles stated in the pre-performance announcement. ## Related sources [2023-06-03 | Original Chinese source: 这是一篇关于《人类投降派》的招募文案](https://p4theater.cn/articles/2023/2023-06-03-这是一篇关于-人类投降派-的招募文案-7e7a17a8ef/) [2023-08-18 | Original Chinese source: 艺术公演 |《人类投降派》始末——外星人还会再次降临吗？](https://p4theater.cn/articles/2023/2023-08-18-艺术公演-人类投降派-始末-外星人还会再次降临吗-76791e9eb6/) [2023-08-25 | Original Chinese source: p4终章 | 最后的排练公演 | 爱、死亡、人类投降派](https://p4theater.cn/articles/2023/2023-08-25-p4终章-最后的排练公演-爱-死亡-人类投降派-7fc3f2ef15/) CLOSE READING / 2026 CURATORIAL INTERPRETATION ## Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You When shared experience becomes a film, who can still answer within it? ### Begin with what happens in the work The 2023 Last Rehearsal announcement links the public event to the film from the outset. The end credits assign direction and writing to the team collectively; He Fa’s published 2024 account likewise describes performers working as directors, camera operators and writers. The film overlays the reciprocal looking of rehearsal with the gaze of later viewers. Cameras are present from the outset, and people know their actions may become future images. The camera is therefore not a transparent witness outside the event. The collective direction and writing credits extend this relation into authorship: shared experience is not absorbed under one director’s name, while He Fa’s initiating, producing and editing work remains specifically identifiable. Editing still selects sequence, distance and duration; collective credit does not make those decisions vanish. The question is how the film lets voices continue to encounter one another and where it fixes a relation into one version. A published 2026 reading of eyes, sound, cameras entering the frame and questions offers entrances for close viewing. These remain versioned interpretations to be tested against passages in the film. It cannot simply become testimony that theatre has exposed real people, and a director character cannot automatically be equated with He Fa outside the frame. ### The limits of this reading The film, public performance, rehearsal records and 2026 research text remain distinct versions. Private experience is not inferred from characters or performances. Based on the 2023 Last Rehearsal announcement, He Fa’s published 2024 account, Imaging with You (2026), and the end credits of the 4g version. [Work archive and source documents](#work-record) [2023 | The Last Rehearsal · Chinese source](https://p4theater.cn/articles/2023/2023-08-14-Last-Rehearsal-人类投降派之-最后的排练-fd7409a2e5/) [2024 | An account of collective creation · Chinese source](https://p4theater.cn/articles/2024/2024-05-12-p4-剧场-一所生成的大学-一条蜿蜒的迷宫-一块铭刻生命的硬盘-5a35325457/) [2026 | Imaging with You · Chinese source](https://p4theater.cn/articles/2026/2026-06-09-与你成像-人类投降派-Shoot-Self-with-You-中的无主第二人称与非主权观看-167656737f/) TAKE A PATH ACROSS ## Other paths from this work. Keeping and losing Overlap does more than add information [Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender) ↔ [The Forbidden City](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/gugong) The displaced overlays of The Forbidden City resist one stable instant; Human Surrender organizes collective filming into a film. Both hold multiple acts of looking, but planar overlap and editing sequence are not interchangeable. 2023–2024 / Film, rehearsal, live performance 2009–2012 / Photography, archival pigment print Read the source materials Work image [Images and presentation ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/gugong#chapter-1) Displaced superimpositions form the architectural outlines; the original portfolio does not specify the number of exposures or processing algorithm. Period document [From a borrowed camera to shifting production roles ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender#chapter-10) The production account of 18 August 2023 specifically records shifts among photography, performance, directing and documentation in collective creation. [Continue from this work ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/crossings#work=gugong) Keeping and losing ### Overlap does more than add information [Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender) ↔ [The Forbidden City](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/gugong) The displaced overlays of The Forbidden City resist one stable instant; Human Surrender organizes collective filming into a film. Both hold multiple acts of looking, but planar overlap and editing sequence are not interchangeable. 2023–2024 / Film, rehearsal, live performance 2009–2012 / Photography, archival pigment print Work image [Images and presentation ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/gugong#chapter-1) Displaced superimpositions form the architectural outlines; the original portfolio does not specify the number of exposures or processing algorithm. Displaced superimpositions form the architectural outlines; the original portfolio does not specify the number of exposures or processing algorithm. Period document [From a borrowed camera to shifting production roles ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender#chapter-10) The production account of 18 August 2023 specifically records shifts among photography, performance, directing and documentation in collective creation. The production account of 18 August 2023 specifically records shifts among photography, performance, directing and documentation in collective creation. Working together How shared making is credited [Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender) ↔ [Theatre Murder Case](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/theatre-murder-case) Theatre Murder Case combines drama and games under the name FakingAosome; Human Surrender credits its crew with collectively creating the direction and screenplay. Both organize practice involving multiple people, while the duo and the film crew define different scopes of authorship. 2023–2024 / Film, rehearsal, live performance By 2016 / Immersive theatre, drama and games Read the source materials Period document [Drama and games at P4 Theater ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/theatre-murder-case#chapter-1) The 2016 proposal jointly signed by He Fa and Zhang Aoshuang lists the work under FakingAosome and explicitly combines theatre and games at P4; detailed documentation is limited. Event record [Collective credits in the film ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender#film-credits) At 02:34:12 the film credits directly attribute direction and screenplay to collective work by the cast and crew; the scope follows the original credit wording. [Continue from this work ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/crossings#work=theatre-murder-case) Working together ### How shared making is credited [Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender) ↔ [Theatre Murder Case](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/theatre-murder-case) Theatre Murder Case combines drama and games under the name FakingAosome; Human Surrender credits its crew with collectively creating the direction and screenplay. Both organize practice involving multiple people, while the duo and the film crew define different scopes of authorship. 2023–2024 / Film, rehearsal, live performance By 2016 / Immersive theatre, drama and games Period document [Drama and games at P4 Theater ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/theatre-murder-case#chapter-1) The 2016 proposal jointly signed by He Fa and Zhang Aoshuang lists the work under FakingAosome and explicitly combines theatre and games at P4; detailed documentation is limited. The 2016 proposal jointly signed by He Fa and Zhang Aoshuang lists the work under FakingAosome and explicitly combines theatre and games at P4; detailed documentation is limited. Event record [Collective credits in the film ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender#film-credits) At 02:34:12 the film credits directly attribute direction and screenplay to collective work by the cast and crew; the scope follows the original credit wording. At 02:34:12 the film credits directly attribute direction and screenplay to collective work by the cast and crew; the scope follows the original credit wording. Keeping and losing Seeing others and changing an image [Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender) ↔ [YourTube](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/yourtube) YourTube places existing comments over images; Human Surrender brings those filming and those filmed into shared production. The former makes others’ viewing traces visible; the latter also credits collective direction and writing. The word interaction cannot adequately describe both arrangements. 2023–2024 / Film, rehearsal, live performance 2018 / Multi-screen video installation Read the source materials Event record [A playback file finds its place in the installation ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/yourtube#chapter-11) Source frames retain on-screen text, picture-in-picture and images of viewers, bringing existing traces of viewing into the playback material. Event record [Collective credits in the film ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender#film-credits) The credits at 02:34:12 and 02:34:50 separately retain collective direction and screenplay, production, editing and shared cinematography. [Continue from this work ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/crossings#work=yourtube) Keeping and losing ### Seeing others and changing an image [Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender) ↔ [YourTube](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/yourtube) YourTube places existing comments over images; Human Surrender brings those filming and those filmed into shared production. The former makes others’ viewing traces visible; the latter also credits collective direction and writing. The word interaction cannot adequately describe both arrangements. 2023–2024 / Film, rehearsal, live performance 2018 / Multi-screen video installation Event record [A playback file finds its place in the installation ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/yourtube#chapter-11) Source frames retain on-screen text, picture-in-picture and images of viewers, bringing existing traces of viewing into the playback material. Source frames retain on-screen text, picture-in-picture and images of viewers, bringing existing traces of viewing into the playback material. Event record [Collective credits in the film ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender#film-credits) The credits at 02:34:12 and 02:34:50 separately retain collective direction and screenplay, production, editing and shared cinematography. The credits at 02:34:12 and 02:34:50 separately retain collective direction and screenplay, production, editing and shared cinematography. Working together Facing one’s image again [Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender) ↔ [Shixiang](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/shixiang) Shixiang extends photography into renewed viewing and expression; Human Surrender organizes shared filming into a film. Both bring people before their own images. Responses during continuing meetings differ from the choices that establish a finished version. 2023–2024 / Film, rehearsal, live performance 2019–2020 / Photography theatre Read the source materials Period document [Eight and a half acts. ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/shixiang#chapter-3) The 2020 project text sets out photography in odd acts and viewing and expression in even acts within an eight-and-a-half-act structure; this is the method announced at the time. Period document [From a borrowed camera to shifting production roles ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender#chapter-10) The production account of 18 August 2023 specifically records shifts among photography, performance, directing and documentation in collective creation. [Continue from this work ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/crossings#work=shixiang) Working together ### Facing one’s image again [Human Surrender / Shoot Self with You](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender) ↔ [Shixiang](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/shixiang) Shixiang extends photography into renewed viewing and expression; Human Surrender organizes shared filming into a film. Both bring people before their own images. Responses during continuing meetings differ from the choices that establish a finished version. 2023–2024 / Film, rehearsal, live performance 2019–2020 / Photography theatre Period document [Eight and a half acts. ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/shixiang#chapter-3) The 2020 project text sets out photography in odd acts and viewing and expression in even acts within an eight-and-a-half-act structure; this is the method announced at the time. The 2020 project text sets out photography in odd acts and viewing and expression in even acts within an eight-and-a-half-act structure; this is the method announced at the time. Period document [From a borrowed camera to shifting production roles ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/human-surrender#chapter-10) The production account of 18 August 2023 specifically records shifts among photography, performance, directing and documentation in collective creation. The production account of 18 August 2023 specifically records shifts among photography, performance, directing and documentation in collective creation. 2026-10-04 / ARCHIVAL ADDITION ## Source materials, process and versions Keep the camera records separate from the completed film. The 5.14 collection retains individual file identities; rehearsal, discussion and later editing remain distinct. [DJI_0002.MP4 ↗](https://b.p4theater.cn/sources/cv-human-surrender-2fd56e99d652) [Follow the other material strands ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/reading/materials-and-process#human-surrender) FROM HERE, ELSEWHERE ## Passages between works [After moving closer](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/paths/distance) Close images and the visible presence of cameras make it difficult for viewers to occupy an uncomplicated position outside the encounter. Close images and the visible presence of cameras make it difficult for viewers to occupy an uncomplicated position outside the encounter. [When can it end](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/paths/unfinished-time) The film orders rehearsal and live material. Its preservation of collective work need not reduce it to one voice. The film orders rehearsal and live material. Its preservation of collective work need not reduce it to one voice. [Making and keeping](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/paths/making) Move from the 2023 three-part film proposal through rehearsal records, the trailer and the public film, then read the artist on selection and continued editing. These stages preserve versions through which shared time during filming can be considered alongside later editing decisions. Move from the 2023 three-part film proposal through rehearsal records, the trailer and the public film, then read the artist on selection and continued editing. These stages preserve versions through which shared time during filming can be considered alongside later editing decisions. ### Related records in the archive [Shixiang ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/shixiang) 2019–2020 [P4 Theater ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/p4-theatre) 2015–present