Circle interviews with the Alumni: Meet Xin Fang - CIRCLE Doc Accelerator 2024 participant.

We've asked our Alumni to share their Circle experience with us: motivation, outcomes, how

it helped them shaped their projects and what it means to be part of the Circle family along with their views on the current cinema landscape and how gender has been an asset or barrier.

Q. Please introduce yourself and your project briefly.

Im a filmmaker and visual storyteller working between China and the U.S. Originally trained in journalism and transitioned into creative documentary to explore personal narratives within larger socio-political landscapes. My work combines first-person narration, regional languages, experimental aesthetics, and archival research to investigate memory, loss, and belonging. Drawing from my Teochew heritage and years of living abroad, I'm interested in how personal histories intersect with systemic forces such as capitalism, migration, and cultural rupture. I'm is currently developing her first feature-length documentary, Letters from Home.

Letters from Home (wt.) is an intimate creative documentary that weaves personal memory with broader historical and economic shifts in contemporary China. Told through a first-person lens, the film follows the filmmaker’s journey to make sense of her family’s silent collapse after her parents were incarcerated for economic charges during her time abroad. Through fragmented narration, family archives, animation, and observational footage, the film explores themes of grief, displacement, and identity—spanning the ancestral home in Puning, the rapid rise of Shenzhen, and the emotional residue of three years of pandemic lockdown. The film meditates on what it means to remember and to reassemble fractured histories in a society that often resists stillness.

Q. What made you apply for CIRCLE?

When I began working on this film, I realized I needed more support — particularly with story structure, narrative development, and, at times, just emotional companionship. As a first-time filmmaker, turning the camera inward can be daunting. But I also believe that at the core of my film, and those of the other fellows, is the desire to understand history and culture through a deeply personal lens. That’s what drew me to CIRCLE — a space where that kind of exploration could be nurtured.

Q. Can you compare your experience at CIRCLE with other similar platforms that you have been part of?

I haven’t attended many other workshops, but I can say that CIRCLE has exceeded my expectations from the very first session. What stood out to me most was the creation of a truly safe and supportive space. Given the themes we’re working with — many of them personal, intimate, and difficult — this space allowed us to speak honestly about what haunts us in the filmmaking process. Through our conversations, I was able to deepen my understanding of my film. We bonded quickly as a group and have continued to support each other even after the third session. That connection — not just as filmmakers, but as people — has been incredibly valuable..

Q. How has participating in CIRCLE helped you and/or your project?

CIRCLE has given me much greater clarity — not only about the shape of my film, but also about who I am as a filmmaker. I feel more grounded, regardless of external recognition. While we are, of course, making films for audiences, this process has also become a way for me to better understand myself, the culture that shaped me, and the world I live in. CIRCLE encouraged me to engage more openly in that dialogue — both internally and with others.

Q. As a woman working in the industry, have you faced any barriers or issues related to your gender?

I’d say the biggest challenge is dealing with stereotypical assumptions. It’s true that I’m making a personal film, and the tone may be more melancholic or subtle — but that doesn’t mean women are limited to only telling these kinds of stories. I absolutely want to explore other genres and creative possibilities. It’s important to challenge the narrow boxes that people often place female filmmakers into.

Q. What's the most challenging part of being a Filmmakers under the current world circumstances?

For me, the biggest challenge right now is self-censorship — something I wasn’t fully aware of until someone pointed it out to me earlier this year. One of the core reasons I began this film was to preserve and share a story that might otherwise be forgotten. Yet I find myself constantly questioning how much I can or should say. I come from an environment where certain lines are difficult to cross, even when the story is deeply personal. That pressure creates internal conflict: What is the truth? What is my agency in telling it? Who gets to decide what is remembered? Even the notion of “identity” becomes unstable — personal identity, cultural identity, and national identity are all under negotiation. I often feel the need to disclaim that my story isn’t representative of my country — maybe because I sense the invisible pressures around me, telling me to justify or explain myself. That’s an emotional and ethical tension I’m still navigating.