Artist Statement

It is difficult to write this Artist Statement having only just begun my journey into Film and TV. My only experience with filming and editing is with my iPhone and not some fancy and expensive camera with all the bells and whistles built in. For as long as I can remember I’ve always created characters in various scenarios in my head where I’d flesh out these ideas and allow them to become more and more complex. But these ideas have for the most part only existed in my imagination. Putting these ideas on paper has seemed like a daunting task, as if I didn’t have the necessary skills or tools to replicate these stories perfectly and writing it down would dilute it too much, but the solution to overcome any intimidation you might feel when creating literally anything is to rip off the proverbial band-aid and just start it. And then edit edit edit until it better resembles the perfect image you have in your head. So let’s begin!

My desire to venture into Film and TV came about suddenly and coincidentally. My friend had shown me Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden, which admittedly bored me the first time around and I gave up on watching it after 20 minutes. How naïve I was and unaware of the floodgates this film would open for me. After viewing it completely, I fell in love with the characters that Park created, the camera movements, the lavishly ornate sets, and especially the nonlinear plot structure. The Handmaiden was the film that made me want to study Film and TV. I was so compelled by how the film had led me to believe the story was going in one direction and then swiftly pulled the rug out from under me. I also loved its depiction of homosexual relationships between the main female characters, which reminded me a bit of Stephen Frears' My Beautiful Laundrette, in that both of these films depict a world where homophobia is a nonissue and possibly nonexistent, which allows these relationships to come about in an organic and meaningful way. Rather than focusing on the typical trope seen in most films concerning LGBT themes of a character coming to terms with their sexuality and perhaps suffering because of it, which feels at this point cliché and rudimentary, the main characters of The Handmaiden and My Beautiful Laundrette stand proudly in their sexuality without fear of reprisal and that feels incredibly refreshing and innovative.


It became apparent to me growing up that Film and TV was lacking in its depiction of interesting and dynamic LGBT characters, so I feel in a way obliged to fill this gap by creating stories with compelling LGBT characters. Additionally, perhaps owing to my immense appreciation for Park's The Handmaiden, I love the psychological thriller genre. I love a carefully crafted story with an unexpected twist that has the audience second guessing everything, or as the kids today say "shook." It's especially fulfilling to watch something a second time and see every expertly placed clue that foreshadows this sudden change of events. Another film that had an unexpected impact on me was Mennan Yapo's Premonition starring Sandra Bullock, which I'm maybe too surprised to see received negative reviews. Regardless, I was so into the film's use of nonlinear storytelling, how Sandra Bullock's character lives out the week of her husband's death out of order, before I really understood what nonlinear storytelling was and why I liked it so much. Finally, my Artist Statement would be incomplete if I didn't mention my appreciation for the sci-fi genre, especially when sci-fi and psychological thriller combine to create a whole new level of madness and suspense (perhaps unrelated but Lost was the first show I binge-watched, followed by Ugly Betty).