Films

"A Trip to Beijing" (2022)

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.

"Little REd" (2021)

Once prompted to recreate an old story and put a modern twist on it, I knew exactly which story I had in mind. We all know the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Now I picked this story because a motif in my body of work is pushing the lesson to young woman and adolescent girls that they should be careful and prepared to protect themselves against the dangers of the outside world, specifically the sexual abuse of men. Spreading awareness of the giant issue of sexual assault, specifically that majority of cases are young girls from the ages 11-17, I’d like to use my platform to not just warn girl’s of the dangers we face but to also teach them how to read the signs and protect themselves.

Raising our little girls with the belief that they need a knight in shining armor to rescue them when they're in danger further perpetuates putting young women in vulnerable situations because they are unequip to defend themselves. This work aims to inspire young girls to want to be strong and independent and know that they can read the signs and get themselves out of situations without a man's help.

"Talking to strangers" (2021)

"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 with its little regulation 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?" 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 to a real cause.

"SHAPE, COLOR, AND SPACE" (2021)

"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.

"Alex or Levi" (2019)

"Alex or Levi" was the first official short film Syd ever produced and directed her senior year of high school, as part of her AP Portfolio. "Bisexuality is hard to comprehend when you're a kid because you feel like you're forced to conform into one box, gay or straight, girl or boy, Alex or Levi, to make it simpler for other people to understand you. However, with this piece my aim was to show how easy it is to fall in love with two people, and how each love can be as completely genuine as the other." -Syd Lee