top of page
IMG_1026_edited_edited.jpg

about

Xinyan is an award-winning video journalist and filmmaker based in Washington DC.

 

Born and raised in China, Xinyan started her journalism career in 2012 working as a producer covering the Asia Pacific region for BBC News based in Beijing. In 2018, she launched the North America video team for Hong Kong’s flagship newspaper South China Morning Post in New York, and later joined the BBC's Washington DC bureau as a Senior Video Journalist in 2020.

 

Now working as an independent filmmaker, Xinyan has directed and produced for international broadcasters and programs including BBC News, NHK, PBS NOVA and PBS Frontline. She is a New America National Fellow, a Firelight Media Doc Lab fellow, a Brown Girls Doc Mafia Sustainable Artist fellow and an alumnus of the Yaddo Residency.

Made in Ethiopia, Xinyan's feature documentary debut supported by IDA, Ford Foundation, Firelight Media and the Danish Film Institute, premiered at Tribeca Festival, Sheffield DocFest, DC/DOX and Encounters South Africa International Film Festival in 2024. 

Xinyan's storytelling is deeply rooted in her upbringing within a community of steel factory workers, where she witnessed firsthand the sweeping socioeconomic changes in China. Her work bridges two distinct worlds: documenting the evolving geopolitical landscapes of the Global South, her place of origin, while elevating the voices of marginalized communities in the developed world, where she now lives and works.

ABOUT
SAMPLE REEL
INTERVIEWS

SAMPLE REEL

INTERVIEWS

RECOGNITION

RECOGNITION

Made in Ethiopia, Xinyan's feature documentary debut, won a Special Jury Mention for A Documentary Feature at Tribeca Festival, a Special Mention for Documentary Competition at Warsaw Film Festival, and Best International Feature at the Planet In Focus Environmental Festival in 2024. 

China's Science Revolution, a 23-min documentary Xinyan produced, won the 2015 BBC Storytelling Fund and the "Highly Commended" entry for excellent online production at the 2016 AIB Awards.

Xinyan's short film Fighting fentanyl won the Gold Prize for Best Use of Online Video at the 2019 WAN-IFRA Asian Digital Media Awards.

A short news feature Xinyan produced, shot and edited for BBC News, Are America's unvaccinated changing their minds?, won one of the White House News Photographers Association's Eyes of History: Digital Storytelling awards in 2022.
 

The Young People Who “Ran” out of China, a feature Xinyan shot won the ONA 2023 Digital Video Storytelling, Short Form, Small/Medium Newsroom.

HEADSHOT 4.jpg
FILMS
wakinesh and rohbot field still.jpg

FILMS

SDF24_White_InternationalFirstFeatureCompetition (1).png
tf24_laurel_special jury_W.png
HSDFF_2024_Laurels_wht.png

MADE IN ETHIOPIA

 

(91 minutes, 2024)

Co-director / Co-producer

 

Supported by Ford Foundation, Firelight Media, the Danish Film Institute, IDA, InMaat Foundation and SFFLIM. 

Laurels - white on transparent.png
15. Official Selection W (1).png
warsaw-laurel-white-500x500.png
AFFR_LAURELWIT24.png
Selección AW Blanco 2024.png
white_HKAFF.png
Cologne laurels white.png
VTIFF2024_laurel white.png
DJI_0039.00_20_15_31_edited.jpg

PBS FRONTLINE

 

MAUI'S FIRESTORM (working title)

 

(IN POST PRODUCTION, 2024)

Director / Producer 

78c177_3b4f76d4f2e049f2801b7ccc3b23c128~mv2.webp

PBS NOVA

 

INSIDE CHINA'S TECH BOOM

 

(54 minutes, 2023)

Co-director / Co-producer

78c177_4468deff049c450a92e6ad19f672f893~mv2.webp

NHK

 

THE DAY I GAVE UP MY DAUGHTER

 

(49 minutes, 2023)

DoP, United States 

Screenshot 2024-05-09 at 11.21_edited.jpg

SCMP FILM

 

FIGHTING FENTANYL

(15 minutes, 2019)

Director, DoP, Editor 

mugshot.jpg

BBC WORLD

CANNABIS: AMERICA'S GREEN GOLD RUSH

 

(23 minutes, 2023)​

Director, DoP, Editor 

Screen Shot 2023-02-11 at 7.50_edited.jpg

THE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO RAN OUT OF CHINA

Winner of ONA 2023 Digital Video Storytelling, Short Form

 

(13 minutes, 2023)

DoP, United States 

Get in Touch

Xinyan is available for hire as director, cinematographer, TV/documentary producer, and editor worldwide, especially in the Greater China region, Asia, United States and East Africa, where she travels between frequently.

Thanks for submitting!

TOP OF PAGE
bottom of page