Shixiang
Photographing and viewing alternate. Participants encounter their own image and decide whether it becomes public.
Artist · Filmmaker · Director and lead of P4 Theater
He Fa 何发
His work keeps asking: how does a camera, a room, a rule, or another person alter who may look, speak, act, refuse, or stop?
Who is He Fa?
He Fa (何发; earlier credited as Fa He) is a Chinese artist, filmmaker and theatre director based in Beijing, and the director and lead of P4 Theater. He works across photography, installation, theatre, film and writing; Shoot Self with You (experimental film / documentary, 2023–2024) is directed by He Fa, co-created with the entire cast and crew.
Is He Fa the same as 何发智 or 何发记?
No. The He Fa (何发) on this site is the Chinese artist, filmmaker and theatre director who leads P4 Theater in Beijing (earlier credited as Fa He; Wikidata Q141774670). 何发智, a name linked to Wuhan University in search suggestions, and 何发记, a dessert-shop name in Yuen Long, are different people or businesses.
Chinese artist, filmmaker and theatre director He Fa (何发; earlier credited as Fa He) began with photography — Fafalish, YourTube — and is the director and lead of P4 Theater (Beijing, since 2015). His feature Shoot Self with You / Human Surrender (experimental film / documentary, 2023–2024, approx. 156 min) is directed by He Fa, co-created with the entire cast and crew.
What he does
Photography begins with an encounter
A photograph is not only the result of pressing a shutter. Distance, trust, hesitation, staging, and the right to refuse already shape the image.
The camera is inside the relation
Once someone speaks toward the lens, moves because it is present, or takes it from another person, filming becomes an action within the event.
Watching without possession
To see another person does not grant ownership of their meaning. Non-sovereign spectatorship asks the viewer to remain close without turning partial understanding into a final verdict.
Stopping is part of participation
A participatory work remains open only when people can pause, refuse, withdraw, and decide whether an image or story may continue beyond the encounter.
Quoted from the method cards on P4 Theater’s He Fa page. Methods →
The film
Film · 2023–2024
Shoot Self with You / Human Surrender
Experimental film / Documentary · approx. 156 min
Directed by He Fa, co-created with the entire cast and crew
A film that grew from collective rehearsal, filming and The Last Rehearsal (26 August 2023). The title’s pressure is on with you.
Works
Iceberg
A small office and fifteen spectators: spatial proximity becomes part of the work.
Vortex
A month of rehearsals and changing participants forms the company’s second production.
天台上的嚎叫者
From recruitment and rehearsal to performance: tracing how shared work takes form.
Cocoon
Sixteen days and nights bring unfamiliar bodies, disagreements and shared work into the theatre.
Purples / Purple Action
Roles, rules, speech and collective judgment become theatre within a jointly constructed fictional world.
Fafalish
A sentence passes through translation, accent and transcription, becoming a situation between languages.
YourTube
Screens are connected and people sit together. When does connection become participation?
Watch these three first
Who Controls the Camera in an Intimate Scene?Video page · 7:33 · Video essayShoot Self with You (English Subtitles)｜Experimental film / Documentary｜Directed by He Fa, co-created with the entire cast and crewVideo page · 2:36:23 · Full film · English subtitles
ICEBERG 冰山 | Full Performance Film (4K, English Subtitles)Video page · 2:08:27 · Iceberg, full performance · He Fa: producerPerformed scenes are not statements about the performers’ private lives. Full watch guide →
Key ideas
He Fa and P4 Theater
P4 Theater began in Beijing in 2015 and is led by He Fa, its director and lead, who has organised its work ever since. Its first public performance, Shadow Counterpoint (2016), was co-curated by He Fa and Zhang Aoshuang.
FAQ
- Who is He Fa?
- Chinese artist, filmmaker and theatre director He Fa (何发; earlier credited as Fa He) is based in Beijing and is the director and lead of P4 Theater.
- What question runs through his work?
- How does a camera, a room, a rule, or another person alter who may look, speak, act, refuse, or stop? Recurring ideas include imaging with you, non-sovereign spectatorship, action generated through relations and the right to stop.
- Did He Fa direct Shoot Self with You?
- Yes. Directed by He Fa, co-created with the entire cast and crew. Co-creation is a stance he insists on, so both are always credited together.
- Are Fa He and He Fa the same person?
- Yes. He Fa is his current English name; Fa He appears in older records such as the 2018 CCA thesis show, FilmFreeway and festival listings.
- Where can I watch his work?
- Public videos are on the YouTube channel @p4theater510 (https://www.youtube.com/@p4theater510). The full film Shoot Self with You with English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1riPOyQuCI
- Searching for 何发 shows other people. How do I find this He Fa?
- 何发 is a common Chinese name. This site is about Chinese artist, filmmaker and theatre director He Fa (何发), director and lead of P4 Theater in Beijing (earlier credited as Fa He). Add “P4 Theater” or “Shoot Self with You” to your search.
Official sources (the official sites are authoritative)