During the Spring 2020 semester, classes were abruptly stopped at end of the Chinese New Year holiday. Students in the video workshop course remained in place, and soon found themselves stuck back in their hometowns from Macao to Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Russia. During the ongoing tensions and anxieties of this unprecedented global pandemic, students continued to work on their original scripts and study the genre of film noir for inspiration.
It soon became clear, however, that a return to classes and campus was not possible so the students remained creative by turning the camera on their own friends and families. They expressed the complex feelings of boredom and urgency in their current living situation through vlogs, interviews and experimental short films. And in their final projects they found creative ways to work together remotely and communicate across borders. Credit to all of them and a big thank you from the Creative Media Lab team who look forward to seeing their creativity continue as they pursue life after graduation.