MEET THE KEY CREW

DIRECTOR - YUCONG CHEN

Yucong Chen is an award-winning director, originally from Qingdao, China, and is now based in LA. In pursuit of her filmmaking aspirations, she earned a Film and Television Production MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and a BFA from the Communication University of China. Yucong’s film practice is centered on the shared human experience, from marginalized communities and immigration crises, to interpersonal connections like encounters and farewells. 
 
Her interest in working on a thesis doc was sparked by the passionate and tireless work done by legal attorney Rose Tsai, who represented Xinran Ji and pursued this five-year-long case on a pro bono basis.

PRODUCER - KAY NIUYUE ZHANG

Kay is from Wuhan, China, and lives in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from Duke University with a BA in International comparative studies and History, with a minor in Arts of the Moving Image. She’s a current Film Production MFA student at USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Since undergrad, her research seeks to unpack Orientalism, in other words, the representation of Asian people in the cultural industry. Her strong communication skills and research experience in the world of Liberal Arts makes her a great candidate for producing this film.

PRODUCER - SHANGE ZHANG

Born and raised in China, Shange Zhang found his passion for filmmaking and started to work as a film director since 2015.

His recent short film, The Five Minutes was selected by several International Film Festivals including Florida Film Festival, Calgary International Film Festival, Fantasia Film Festival, Foyle Film Festival, and won the best Sci-fi Short film in 2019 Los Angeles Film Award and Asian On Film Festival.

CINEMATOGRAPHER  - QUINCY HUANXI LI

Huanxi, current USC Film & TV Production MFA Candidate, has shot over 20 short films including narratives and documentaries. Graduated from the Communication University of China, she studied Editing & Publishing for New Media, and there she got the experience of shooting documentaries. 

The short films she DP-ed and directed were selected by International Zinema School Fest in Spain, LA Shorts International Film Festival, and  Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival. Huanxi and Yucong have cooperated on several short narratives and documentaries.

EDITOR  - MOZHU YAN

Mozhu was born in Xi’an and raised in Nanjing. She graduated from Sichuan University majoring in Chinese Literature. Due to the exchange program experience at Columbia University, she is determined to become a filmmaker, to make the stories from her imagination come true on-screen.

As a filmmaker, she is interested in the mixture of genres, the diversity in cultures, and the exploration of high concepts. She worked on a few thesis projects as an editor and wrote two feature scripts that are currently in development. She graduated with an MFA degree from USC School of Cinematic Arts and is currently working as a writer in LA.

SOUND DESIGNER  - CABBA JIAXUAN CAI

Cabba is a bilingual filmmaker born and raised in Hunan, China, and currently residing in Los Angeles, California, where she is pursuing an MFA from the University of Southern California’s graduate film program. She began developing and honing her craft from a young age, inheriting her love of filmmaking from her father who works professionally in the China industry. She previously obtained a BA, majoring in Film Sound, from the Beijing Film Academy, one of the most esteemed film schools in Asia.

She loves the visual and aural elements of film as a medium for storytelling and hopes to continue sharing stories that move her. To this day, she credits her love and passion for filmmaking to her father and close collaborators around her.