I have been making films since my mom gave me my first camera at 5 years old, it was always an escape from reality and a way for me to project my love for narrative storytelling. Through short films and documentary I have learned my style of filmmaking crosses the boundaries between narrative and artistically experimental.
A Trip To Beijing
I visited Beijing, China in 2019, just before the covid pandemic began, and a memory from the trip which really stuck out to me, was a moment experienced while visiting Tiananmen Square. Our Beijing native tour guide spoke of the rich history and beauty of Tiananmen Square but not once did she mention what I had considered to be the biggest event that occurred there, the Tiananmen massacre. I later discovered that she quite literally could not speak poorly of the government in a public space because of the complete eradication of freedom of speech created by the Chinese surveillance state. I was unaware of the depth of the horrors that occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989 during the protests, as I had never in my life seen images of this massive protest and the brutality which occurred there. For decades, China refused to acknowledge and actively censored any mention of the student-led revolution that took place in the central square of Beijing. I had experienced some of the censorship firsthand when I realized I could no longer access google and other sites while I was there, and it was incredibly disorienting for me as a US citizen who takes for granted what I considered to be universal in the 21st century. My grandfather and his family fled China to the Philippines when they were being religiously persecuted. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion are rights we take easily for granted in the US. With this piece, splicing photos capturing the beauty I discovered in my trip to Beijing, I also hope to spread awareness of the horrors that are still relevant today with images from the real massacre. All photographs are original besides stock images used from the massacre.
Action! Travel is the PHD of Life
This short documentary/video diary chronicles a photography course trip of the University of Denver throughout Scandinavia including Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallinn, and Helsinki. This film follows the experiences of the students exploring photography museums and the cultural experiences of each city. It concludes with an interview of each student revealing what they learned and the admiration acquired for our beloved professor Roddy MacCinnes.
Talking to Strangers
"Talking to Strangers" is a one shot short film about the real life dangers of the internet, that many gen Z girls have experienced growing up in the blossoming age of technology. We started using iPads during elementary school, which evolved into using "Omegle" in middle school, which if you don't know is an anonymous online video chat site exclusively occupied by old perverts looking to jack off and children looking for a funny time. Their slogan is "Talk to Strangers!" and the concept itself is problematic with its little regulation since it has become a notoriously widely known place where kids would play games like "How many dicks will we see in the next ten minutes?" In order to find the blatantly child sexualizing message displayed in the film it took me only five minutes at 8 am. This among many social media issues began to propagate the very prevalent issue of child grooming and sexualization of children on the internet and my hope is for the film to raise awareness.
Little Red
Everyone know the story of Little Red Riding Hood, but in this modern retelling Little Red stumbles on her way to grandma's house, and she must navigate the use of her intuition and self defense as a tactic against the harms of the outside world. This piece is meant to not portray Little Red as a damsel in distress, because the last thing little girl's need is another warning of the dangers of the world without any proactive way to solve their problems. My Little Red is the type of girl who won't wait around for a knight in shining armor.
Shape, Color, and Space
"Shape, Color, & Space," is a short abstract film focusing on the use of shape, color, and space as methods to convey storyline and narrative. In this film I wanted to implore, how much shape or color does one need to create a space or environment which can become cognizant? What stories can our brains fill the gaps for when we digest simple shapes and colors and why might we associate these storylines? This film is a very simple exploration of how art can be used to engage the human brain.