Jiayan “Jenny” Shi is a documentary filmmaker and video journalist who is passionate about social justice issues regarding people of color. She shoots, edits, and produces video stories and short documentaries about immigration, race, and crime in Chicago for multiple outlets. She also works as a researcher, digital content editor, and translator on projects that include the ITVS co-produced web series “Pulling The Thread” and the Oscar-winning documentary “American Factory.” Shi’s work has won a Chicago College Emmy and earned a nomination for a Student Academy Award.

“Finding Yingying” opens in virtual cinemas December 11.

This interview was originally conducted as part of our 2020 SXSW Film Festival coverage, prior to the fest’s cancellation due to COVID-19.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

JS: “Finding Yingying” closely follows a Chinese family looking for their daughter, a 26-year-old international student who went missing on the campus of University of Illinois in the summer of 2017. While navigating a strange, foreign country for the first time, the family try to unravel the mystery of her disappearance.

“Finding Yingying” is not a traditional true crime film. It’s about a talented young woman who was loved by her family and friends, and how much her life touched others.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

JS: I first learned about Yingying through a message from my college alum group chat. We had both attended Peking University in China. The message said a Chinese student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was missing. At that time, I myself was an international student, studying just a few hours away. The Chinese student groups in Urbana-Champaign and in the Chicago area started spreading the word and began an extensive search.

After Yingying’s family arrived in the U.S., I also went down to Champaign to see how I could help. I reached out to the leading student volunteer group in Champaign and found Shilin Sun, who later became the co-producer and cinematographer of the film. That’s how I first met Yingying’s family and began to learn more about Yingying.

Yingying and I are almost the same age and shared similar experiences. The more time I spent with Yingying’s family, the more I thought about my own parents. I knew how devastated they would have been if this had happened to me, and I knew how much a Chinese family has to give up to send their children abroad for a better future. Yingying and her family’s story resonated with me a lot.

What’s more, I was afraid that Yingying and her family would be forgotten eventually as time passed by. That’s why I decided to continue following Yingying’s case and make a film that honors Yingying and her family.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

JS: When we think about a case like this, the media is likely to focus on the crime, investigation, or the perpetrator. They forget about the people left behind in the tragedy — and the person labeled only as the “victim” becomes dehumanized. “Finding Yingying” is not the usual true crime film: it’s a story of a brilliant young woman, who is loved by her family and friends, a story of her grieving family trying to stay strong and find her while navigating a strange, foreign country.

I hope after the audience watches the film, they walk away with the image of an extraordinary woman who had a wonderful life ahead of her, and the impact of such a sudden loss in the community and everyone around her.

I also hope “Finding Yingying” can help change the narrative of crime stories nowadays.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

JS: “Finding Yingying” was not an easy story to tell. One of the biggest challenges we had was building trust with Yingying’s family and other subjects in the film, as well as maintaining the long-term relationships. Yingying’s family hesitated to be part of the film at the very beginning, because their focus was totally on searching for Yingying. [We initially focused on] documenting the places Yingying used to live and work. Meanwhile, Shilin and I were volunteering to help the family in Champaign. As the search continued, Yingying’s family opened up a lot, because they realized that they needed media to keep the public’s attention on Yingying’s case. So much media coverage at the time was about the investigation and the killer, and they didn’t want to be forgotten. We got really close to each other and they treated us as their own children.

As a first-time filmmaker, I struggled with ethical issues. I asked myself thousands of times why I was filming the worst moments of someone’s life. I also had a hard time managing my own emotions after being with the family for a long time and following such tragedy closely. Fortunately, I received huge support from the documentary community in Chicago, especially from Kartemquin Films. I’m a graduate of the 2018 Diverse Voices in Docs (DVID) fellowship program, and we had a workshop about ethics with documentary legend Gordon Quinn. I was able to discuss specific situations with Gordon afterwards. He gave me a lot of insight into navigating ethical dilemmas.

I’m very lucky to have a great team standing by me along this journey. I started “Finding Yingying” when I was still a student at Northwestern University. Brent E. Huffman, my professor at that time, who’s been my mentor and huge supporter for years, came on board as producer. I also learned so much from producer Diane Quon, who believes in young Asian voices and has connected “Finding Yingying” to a larger world.

I’d like to give a special thanks to our amazing editor John Farbrother who made the magic to bring the film to life. Last but not least, “Finding Yingying” wouldn’t have been made without co-producer and cinematographer Shilin Sun, who was with me all the time in this emotional journey behind the camera.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

JS: “Finding Yingying” began as a student film, so our production budget was low at that time, since Shilin and I were doing all the work.

After I graduated, I participated in several pitch events and competitions, and won some funds from the Paley Center for Media and American Documentary Film Fund. I also received the Diverse Voices Accelerator Fund from Kartemquin. The film also received private donations from the Chinese community, and wonderful support from investors who believed in the film.

As a first-time filmmaker, it’s such an honor to work on “Finding Yingying” with Kartemquin. Over the past few years, Kartemquin has provided me with mentorship, guidance, and all kinds of resources that allowed me to tell Yingying’s story.

“Finding Yingying” was made through a joint effort, and the experience I have gained in this journey has been significant.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

JS: I found inspiration from real life — my interaction with the world. My identity and perspective — international student, Asian, and woman — play a key role in the stories I want to tell and the way I tell them.

I had actually never thought about being a filmmaker before I came to the U.S. four years ago. I was born and raised in China. Right after graduating from college there, I came to study journalism at Northwestern University in Chicago. That was the first time I closely immersed myself in such diverse culture and society. After producing several short doc style projects, I fell in love with the power of cinema and storytelling.

Meanwhile, I also noticed that our Asian community was relatively quiet compared to other communities. There weren’t many chances and places for us to speak. Most importantly, I felt it should be us telling our own stories. That’s one of the reasons I decided to tell Yingying’s story.

As a former international student, I experienced many of the same feelings that Yingying did — balancing my ambition and determination, while fighting my loneliness as I tried to overcome language barriers and culture shock. I hope this will help to build understanding and break the stereotypes many have of the “Chinese international student.”

As a young woman, I wanted to show how strong Yingying was as a person in a cultural context where female victims are usually dehumanized.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

JS: The best advice was to never give up.

The worst advice was to always be aggressive. Being aggressive can be important under certain circumstances, but I think it’s wrong to be aggressive without considering the reality of covering sensitive topics.

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

JS: Be brave, trust yourself, and tell the story you want to tell. Don’t forget to take care of yourself.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

JS: It’s hard to name a favorite, because there are so many great women-directed films. The most recent one I watched was “For Sama” by Waad Al-Kateab, which was co-directed with Edward Watts. I’m not a huge fan of war films, but “For Sama” is an exception.

Through the director’s perspective and narration, I saw and felt the love and hope inside the cruel war. It’s also important to see women being portrayed as fighters, as opposed to victims who wait for others to decide their destinies.

W&H: What differences have you noticed in the industry since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements launched?

JS: I haven’t been in the industry long enough to see big differences, but I can talk about how I feel being a female filmmaker. I’m very lucky to be part of several organizations and collectives that support female filmmakers of color, including Brown Girls Doc Mafia and our very own Mezcla Media Collective in Chicago, which are both young but growing rapidly. We share resources and create opportunities for each other. I definitely see more conversations around gender and equity, and more great films about women created by women.

But considering the larger picture in the industry, there’s still a very long way to go. In some male-dominated projects, females are still considered to be supporting roles. It’s still difficult for female filmmakers of color to get their projects funded. But I’m hoping as these movements continue, there will be more space and respect for females in the industry.