November 15, 2020 2:17 pm
Jiayan "Jenny" Shi's feature debut, Finding Yingying will enjoy a limited virtual theatrical run beginning December 11th. The film will be available to stream at a number of theatres nationwide, including:
- Laemmle Theaters Los Angeles, CA
- Gene SIskel Film Center Chicago, IL
- Museum of Moving Image NYC, NY
- Carolina Theatre Durham, NC
- SIFF Cinema Seattle, WA
- Normal Theater Normal, IL
In October, MTV Documentary Films acquired worldwide rights - excluding China - to Finding Yingying.
Winner of a SXSW Special Jury Recognition for Breakthrough Voice, Finding Yingying tells the tragic story of Yingying Zhang, a young Chinese student who went missing from the University of Illinois campus. Director/producer Jiayan “Jenny” Shi closely followed Yingying's family in their first ever trip to the USA, as they searched to unravel the mystery of her disappearance and seek justice for their daughter while navigating a foreign country.
Since the film's SXSW premiere, it has gone on to win Best Documentary Feature, Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival and Best Documentary Feature at Loudoun Arts Film Festival. It is currently screening at DOC NYC to be followed by the IDA Screening Series on November 19th. Shi initially developed the project as a student at Northwestern University and then in the Diverse Voices in Docs program, operated by Kartemquin and Community Film Workshop of Chicago. The film also won Paley DocPitch Competition in 2018 and pitched at TFI Network 2019. In August, Shi was selected as one of Sundance Institute’s 11 artists selected for the first-ever Women at Sundance | Adobe Fellowship, designed to meaningfully support women artists creating bold new work in film and media.
Finding Yingying was directed by Jiayan “Jenny” Shi, produced by Brent Huffman, DIane Moy Quon, and Jiayan “Jenny” Shi, co-produced by Shilin Sun, cinematography by Shilin Sun and Jiayan “Jenny” Shi, executive produced by Gordon Quinn, Jolene Pinder, Mark Mitten, Ken Pelletier, and edited by John Farbrother.