Documentary Projects
Through filmmaking, I hope to shed light on often-overlooked social issues and empower marginalized communities by creating a platform where they can tell their authentic stories.
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Dilemmas Faced by Athletes
Hockey has been my lifelong passion. It has witnessed my growth and carried me through setbacks. One of my aspirations was to represent China on the Women’s National Hockey Team. However, when I joined the Beijing Team at the age of fourteen, I became aware of a harsh reality: athletes face limited job opportunities, with female athletes encountering even more severe marginalization. I watched former teammates forced out by injury as early as twenty-six, suddenly facing a job market for which they were entirely unprepared. I realized that the rigorous training system often demands that athletes sacrifice formal education for athletic achievements, leaving them with few transferable skills.
To further understand this issue, I interviewed both male and female athletes who were forced to prioritize athletics over academics. I began to realize that the athletic training programs systemically lack career transition support, leaving former athletes economically vulnerable. Through this documentary, I built a platform to highlight this gap and advocate for educational reform within the athletic system.
On June 18, 2025, I landed in Nyingchi, Tibet, home of the local artisans I’d met during a trip years prior, hoping to document local craft traditions to contribute to the cultural preservation of Tibetan customs. As I examined my surroundings, I was struck by how much had changed: traditional houses had given way to concrete blocks, lush forests had been cleared to make space for roads, and large Mandarin characters adorned buildings. Traces of unique architectural features were being erased, and with them, a culture.
Suddenly, a realization struck me: a merely informational documentary would not be enough to alter this path; instead, I would need to film a creative documentary that evoked the same sense of empathy I felt when witnessing the culture that I revere vanishing.
Holding the camera by hand, I focused the frame on details by following the craftsmen’s hands: the painter’s brush on the canvas, depicting the deity of his imagination; the doctor’s hand searching the pharmacy shelving, looking for the right herbal medicine; and the incense maker offering me bundles of incense as a gift.
Through this documentary, I challenge the inevitability of cultural assimilation as a consequence of a globalized society, questioning whether such erasure is truly inescapable.