On June 9, 2017, Yingying Zhang, a 26-year-old visiting Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, disappeared. The story of her family’s search for her, and their fight for justice in what tragically became a case of abduction and murder, made international news.
The University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign has the largest population of Chinese students in the U.S. It remains to be seen what long-term impact this might have on enrollment, but the film shows Chinese students on campus taking more precautions and curtailing their activities. It leaves one to ask what proactive steps the university takes to acclimate this population to the cultural differences they inevitably encounter.
The most impactful narrative of the film is voiced by the director reading passages from Yingying’s private journal. In her own words, she shares her dreams of wanting to take care of her family, to make enough money to support them, and to just be happy. With poetic turns of phrase, she expresses her love for her fiancé, her love of travel, and that she longs to measure the earth with her feet.
Dir. Jiayan “Jenny” Shi, 98 min. Gene Siskel Film Center From Your Sofa
