As a Han Chinese, I grew up in a town where a majority of the population is Muslim in Xinjiang, northwest China. I developed interests in religions and cultures of the ethnic minorities. I always have a strong will to showcase my community through videos and photography beyond the national propaganda in China.

I graduated from SVA MFA Photo & Video department in 2021. I worked with a Bangladeshi restaurant in Jersey City for a semester and made a 10-minute documentary that follows the family-owned business. The documentary explores the Bangladeshi community through a distinct cuisine. To build upon my interest in making documentaries, I made a 40-minute documentary film about my parents-in-law’s intercultural relationship. The film explores the concept of cultural differences in marriage and the passage of time in an intimate tone, family dynamic of immigrants in America, and allows me to reflect on my own intercultural marriage.

These experiences of making documentaries have shaped my ability to be a d