The Crew

We have a team of international filmmakers from three different continents who are all too familiar with the experience of being a young adult living in a foreign country. Friendship isn’t only the theme of The Missing Chinese Girl but has also reflected in the assembling of our crew. Emma, Dominic and Miguel met on a film set in 2013 and have stayed friends ever since. Ariel worked with Dominic and Emma respectively on two different films, and now the three have reunited on The Missing Chinese Girl.

Writer/Director/Producer - Emma Nan Hu

Born and raised in China, Emma Nan Hu is a filmmaker currently based in London. As a producer and self-shooting director, she has worked in the UK and China providing short form documentaries and video contents for both artistic and corporate projects since 2011. After producing and directing five narrative short films, she discovered her passion and started production company What Else Can We Make in order to tell more stories that shine a light on cross-cultural experiences.

“ The Missing Chinese Girl is a story about the struggles of a young adult living in a foreign country, and how friendship provides support and a sense of belonging. Those inner struggles are something what many of us share and yet rarely talk to others about. I started writing the script in 2018, though I believe this story has become more relevant now than ever. The pandemic has reminded us how much we all crave for connections with other human beings. In the most devastating year of our time, we have seen the greatest compassion, kindness and friendship that people offer each other. These are what would help us keep going and overcome any hardship in our lives. And that’s one of the messages I hope our audience will take away from this film. ”

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Read Director’s Statement ︎

Producer - Dominic Ryan

Dominic Ryan is a producer/director who has been involved with many productions over the years from short form to feature film length. He is pro-active and always work hard to solve any problem given to him. In May 2020, he produced/directed a film over Skype called Four Walls, which was a Covid inspired story, that has since gone around the world in various festivals and has picked up numerous awards.

“ What initially struck me about The Missing Chinese Girl was the universal aspect of friendship. One of the most poignant feelings I found was the sudden jolt one would feel when something ends unexpectedly. Aimee is given no warning whatsoever about Mira’s disappearance, and is left unprepared for whatever feelings will eventually surface. Most relationships we experience in life happen in given moments of time and as we grow older, fewer and fewer people may – for whatever reason – no longer be a part of your life. We never know when we do anything in life if t may be the last time we do it, and that’s one of the biggest aspects of this story that intrigues me. ”

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Director of Photography - Ariel Artur

Based in London, Ariel has lensed over 60 films with recent features shot in France, Italy, USA and UK. His background in theatre and photography and a strong collaborative approach translates into solid partnerships with fellow filmmakers and cast. Member of ABC (Associação Brasileira de Cinematografia), he has been working worldwide with projects spanning from features and shorts to documentaries and music videos.

2019 Best Cinematographer for ‘Chasing Shadows’ - Flicks Film Festival 2018 Best Cinematography for ‘Happy Birthday, You Loser’ - London Short Series Fest

“ The Missing Chinese Girl has an intense narrative but depicted in a very sensitive way, touching on many elements that are so rooted in contemporary society yet so subjective to the way we relate to them. The story so well crafted by Emma Nan Hu dives into how lonely we can be even when we are surrounded by people, and this theme has really drawn me into the project especially regarding the visual approach Emma had in mind for the film. The idea of dwelling into the different worlds that the character belongs – or attempts to – and their inherent dichotomies, such as the pursuit to feel at home as a foreigner in another country and living up to professional standards that shape and threaten our personal values, offered a singular space to collaborate as a cinematographer. Emma is also a talented photographer which made this a special opportunity when it came to discussing references, such as the work of Philip-Lorca diCorcia and his use of high-contrast under twilight or at night and the street photography of Fred Herzog and John Goldsmith, considering the urban dynamics present on The Missing Chinese Girl. The challenge of appropriating ourselves with Aimee’s character and her emotional journey through loss and self-reflection and how amplified that can be for non-natives facing daily life as expats, seemed like an unmissable chance to explore the extent of a friendship’s impact on one’s life and how it can inform one’s choices and the path ahead. ”

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Sound Recordist/Sound Designer - Miguel Rodriguez

Miguel Rodriguez Puente is a sound recordist, editor, and designer based in London with seven years of experience.

Born in 1985, he studied music from the age of 9. Since then he has been involved in jazz and classical bands, orchestras, and drum ensembles. He studied composition at the same time and became interested in sound arts after taking lectures with composers who experimented in sound. He studied Sound Arts and Design at the University of Arts, London, where he collaborated extensively with film students and produced two radio plays. He graduated in 2014 and since then he has worked on film sets and also as a dialogue, foley, and sound effects editor, ADR mixer, and re-recording mixer.

Miguel has worked on a number of cinema-released feature films, as well as shorts, documentaries, ads, and a variety of audiovisual productions, and produced voice-over work.

“ I like Emma both as a person and a filmmaker, and I'm always up to working with her. It also helps that in this case the script is very good and the resulting film promises to be one I'll be proud to add to my portfolio. It should be, then, a pleasure and an honour. ”

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Score Composer - Ioana Selaru

Ioana Selaru is a classically trained film music composer and violinist born in Romania. Her compositions include original scores composed for short films, documentaries and animations, but her portfolio stretches out far from the traditional media, covering music production for art installations and exhibitions. Rooted in her classical upbringing and breathing the fresh vision of the contemporary landscape, her signature works are marked by unusual combinations of instruments and sounds, designed to strike that particular emotional chord in the audience, vital for the cinematic work to be complete. This delicate sensitivity to the realm of human feelings is also due to the fact that she never left her passion for the violin, instead, she uses it to create unique and unexpected sound elements from her favourite instrument.

“ I resonated with Emma's story ever since she presented her project to me for the first time. My personal experience made me better understand the struggles of an adult living in a foreign country and how important and beneficial the relationships with those around are. ”

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