Why I Do What I Do
I grew up moving every few years, first from Chengdu, China to Jackson, Mississippi and later Chattanooga, Tennessee. In the chaos of constant change, stories were my refuge. They helped me map my emotional landscape and make sense of my shifting surroundings.
After college, inspired by the strong public service ethos at UNC-Chapel Hill, I got my Masters in International Relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS and pursued development work, filming in places like Côte d’Ivoire, the Comoros, and China before landing in journalism and eventually documentary film.
It’s only in looking back that I can now see how all the dots connect. Documentary storytelling was the synthesis of everything I valued – a reverence for human connection, a commitment to social change, and a belief that stories can help us make sense of a sometimes unpredictable world.
Please reach out if you'd like to collaborate! stephanie.f.liu@gmail.com
I grew up moving every few years, first from Chengdu, China to Jackson, Mississippi and later Chattanooga, Tennessee. In the chaos of constant change, stories were my refuge. They helped me map my emotional landscape and make sense of my shifting surroundings.
After college, inspired by the strong public service ethos at UNC-Chapel Hill, I got my Masters in International Relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS and pursued development work, filming in places like Côte d’Ivoire, the Comoros, and China before landing in journalism and eventually documentary film.
It’s only in looking back that I can now see how all the dots connect. Documentary storytelling was the synthesis of everything I valued – a reverence for human connection, a commitment to social change, and a belief that stories can help us make sense of a sometimes unpredictable world.
Please reach out if you'd like to collaborate! stephanie.f.liu@gmail.com