Meet Helena Yingna Wu

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Helena Yingna Wu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Helena Yingna, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I started to feel I am different and would have a different future from my peers at the age of 13.

I was very determined to excel academically between age 16 and 22, during which I finished college and post-graduate school.

I decided to be a filmmaker for the rest of my life at age 24, while I was editing a trailer for a documentary and felt exhilarated.

I made my first indie film about young people’s struggle to survive in big cities at the age of 27. I found my purpose in film directing.

I directed the documentary “When Chinese Meet Zambians” in 2015, garnering 2.9 million hits on YouTube. It was featured in PBS SoCal’s “Global Mosaic” series. I produced a documentary on former president of Mozambique “Samora Machel: The Struggle Continues” the same year. It was embedded on UNESCO’s webpage.

For me, life is a journey of discovery. If you are always curious, always look for the unknown, the wonder of life will unpack for you.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a film director, producer and writer. I never could have imagined myself doing it, but everything that I was passionate about since I was a kid, seems to have prepared me for this destiny.

In the middle school, I used to tell improvised stories to a classmate while walking back home from school. I made her eyes very wide and laugh a lot. I wrote an imaginary hybrid of fiction for the forum of alumni, and it was rated “Best Literature” of the year.

I watched hundreds of classic movies in college. It’s my best entertainment, my shelter and wonderland, but I never thought I would want to make one myself.

For me, film is imagination. Film is an exotic land that I take the audience to, to open their eyes, their hearts and souls. The screening may be over, but the film will stay with them forever.

I directed 15 documentaries across China. I was the show runner and producer for the documentary series “Faces of Africa” – 200 episodes across 30 countries. Right now, I am a director member of Alliance of Women Directors (AWD) based in Los Angeles.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Three qualities:

Independent thinking, Curiosity, Perseverance

Advice:

Don’t always follow the trends. Stop, think, is this the right direction?
Don’t follow, instead, lead.

Don’t always believe in what the majority people say. “No, it’s impossible. Nobody has ever done that. Are you insane?”
Brush them away, don’t need to explain, just go ahead with your instinct and go on your own path. You may be alone, but you will embark on the right journey.

Don’t stop learning. Learning keeps you alive and young.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Yes, I am looking for like-minded filmmakers to collaborate with.

For me, film is not merely entertainment, it’s a powerful tool to deliver a message. It enlightens you, educates you and makes your life larger.

The film that inspires me the most is “Schindler’s List”. For true art, it not only touches people’s hearts, it sells, too.

My website: helenaspace.com. My profile: https://www.allianceofwomendirectors.org/find-a-director/director/yingna-wu/

Contact Info:

• Website: https://helenaspace.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helena-wu-3983562ab/

Image Credits

Neil Brandt, Zhao Lei