After graduating from the University of Macau (UM), Emily Chan ventured into the Beijing film industry, later returning to Macao and Hong Kong to continue her work in film and television. Over the past decade, Emily has created her own path in cinema, and directed three feature films: Timing, Our Seventeen, and Madalena. Starting as a young girl with aspirations of becoming a filmmaker, Emily has transformed into a rising director. Notably, her filmmaking career was closely connected to her study of ‘storytelling’ in UM’s Department of Communication.
Returning to her alma mater to ‘tell stories’
‘To put it simply, films are a form of storytelling. How should a story be told so that it will not become a box-office bomb?’ Emily asked the participants at a workshop. Emily also asks herself this question when writing an original screenplay.
In September this year, Emily returned to her alma mater UM to give a workshop on ‘Techniques of Video Storytelling’ as part of the UM Communications Office’s PR Workshop Series, sharing her creative insights with staff members and students from different disciplines.
After being interviewed for UMagazine in 2015, Emily was interviewed again by the Communications Office to talk about her transformation over the years. Nine years on, the alumna has successfully achieved her initial filmmaking goals. From her debut Timing to her acclaimed work Madalena, Emily has produced a number of films and TV series that have received nominations and recognition from various film festivals. After returning to Macao, she set up a film studio with her partners to promote the development of Macao’s film industry, and in 2022, she was awarded the Medal of Merit—Culture by the Macao SAR Government in recognition of her contribution to Macao’s film industry.
What steps did she take to move from writing screenplays and winning over film investors to presenting her work in theatres? She sums up the key to her success in one sentence—the winner is the one who can tell a story: ‘If my story fails to grab the attention of the investors, then it is a failure. In my earlier years, storytelling was the first skill I acquired, and UM was the place where it all started.’
Setting sail for the dream of filmmaking
Emily was born in the 1980s, and Macao’s film industry was still in its infancy when she attended secondary school. Emily originally wanted to pursue film studies in either Beijing or Taiwan, but her parents’ fierce disapproval forced her to take a different path. During this time, however, her mind was entirely focused on film.
In her final year of high school, Emily was astonished by the ‘storytelling’ skills of Agnes Lam, associate professor in the UM Department of Communication. Prof Lam visited Emily’s school to give a talk on further education. ‘Instead of starting with “who I am” when she took the stage, Prof Lam shared her personal story of becoming a journalist. Her engaging story captured the attention of all the students, including the boys who usually find it hard to concentrate.’
From that day on, Emily found her future direction, ‘I realised the importance of communication, and being a storyteller is exceptionally appealing.’ So she enrolled at UM to study journalism and mass communication. ‘At the time, there was a documentary film production course that taught students to observe society and tell stories through their lens. When I picked up the camera, I knew that my dream of filmmaking had begun,’ she remarks.
Building a dream at UM as an at-risk youth
In her first year at UM, Emily created her debut documentary, Macau on Edge, which explores a social issue: Is it possible for at-risk youth who have lost their way to get back on track and become pillars of society? If so, how?
The story of this documentary is a reflection of Emily’s inner world. ‘When I was a kid, I was quite rebellious. I ran away from home, and changed schools seven times during junior secondary,’ she says. Just as she was about to drop out of school, Emily realised her past missteps and began to dedicate herself to her studies. She laughs, ‘When I was admitted to UM, I already felt like a pillar of society.’
For Emily, UM was the foundation upon which she built her dream of filmmaking and gave her, an at-risk youth, the opportunity to unleash her creative ideas. Emily believes that UM’s course on news and journalism was instrumental in developing her writing skills. She emphasises, ‘The essence of journalism lies in its commitment to authenticity. Students need to develop skills in interviewing, keen observation, questioning, attentive listening, and content organisation. Mastery of these skills is crucial for those pursuing careers in film and television production.’
Furthermore, during her time at university, Emily had to raise funds for her film projects through the Communication Society by writing a proposal for each screenplay, and she had to improve her presentation skills in the public speaking class. Each of these experiences contributed significantly to her subsequent journey in the film industry. ‘Working in the film industry often involves writing proposals, attending pitch sessions, presenting screenplays to people from different places, and attracting investors, all of which challenge our ability to tell compelling stories,’ she says.
‘Although I was not professionally trained to make films, the insights and knowledge I gained at UM have been very useful in my creative work,’ Emily says.
‘If it is not about passion, what could it be?’
Although there are no courses focused on film production offered at UM, Emily found a group of peers with the same interests. Members of the group created a variety of cinematic pieces that are now treasured memories of their younger days. For example, the film Another Home tells the story of Fujianese immigrants in Macao searching for their roots, and North Area tells the story of a poor family in the northern area of Macao. ‘These works represent our genuine passion. We reached out to the community and worked hard round the clock during filming and editing, all in an effort to avoid being seen as “salted fish [a Cantonese slang for people with no ambition]”,’ she said.
Emily recalls her time editing in the multimedia studio on the old UM campus, ‘The studio was connected to a windowless car park in the basement, so it was hard to tell if it was daytime or nighttime.’
At a time when Macao’s gaming and entertainment industries were flourishing, Emily held on to her ambition to make films. ‘Many of my classmates chose to make easy money working in casinos,’ she recalls. ‘UM’s old campus was on a hill, and at the bottom of the hill was a casino. It was like a cross between reality and a dream as we climbed up the hill every day. Clearly, the opportunity to make money was right there in front of us, but we gave it our all and worked tirelessly through the night to make films. If it is not about passion, what could it be?’
To Emily, the principle of not being a ‘salted fish’ at university ultimately became the driving force behind her filmmaking journey.
Following her dream as a ‘Beijing Drifter’
After graduating from UM, Emily moved to Beijing to continue her filmmaking journey. Looking back, she feels immense gratitude to UM for creating a pathway that allowed her to take steps towards achieving her goals.
In her second year at UM, she felt that the Beijing film industry was mature, so she applied for an internship through her faculty. With guidance from the professors, Emily and her classmate Fei Ho successfully secured internships with a Beijing film crew.
After her visit to Beijing, Emily’s enthusiasm for cinema grew significantly. When she returned to UM, she immediately told her professors that she wanted to continue her studies in Beijing after graduation. During her final year at UM, Renmin University of China (RUC) visited UM to recruit students, and Emily’s professors recommended her to apply for a master’s degree in radio and television communication at RUC in Beijing.
After completing her master’s degree at RUC in 2015, Emily decided to stay in Beijing for her filmmaking career. From writing countless screenplays to making her remarkable work Timing, she has been working in the Beijing film industry for nearly seven years. Despite her busy schedule, Emily has never forgotten the guidance of her mentors at UM and her alma mater. She regularly travelled from Beijing to Macao to support the annual UM CommFest, attending the event as a guest speaker, sharing her insights about film and commenting on the work of UM students.
Never forget where you started
Over the years, those students who once shared a passion for cinema have started their own families and pursued different career paths, leaving Emily as the lone member of the group still involved in the film industry.
In order to take better care of her family, Emily decided to leave her life as a ‘Beijing Drifter’ and move back to Macao and Hong Kong. She has recently been working on a dance drama for ViuTV in Hong Kong. The drama is inspired by a documentary she produced at UM 15 years ago called Ten Years—The Dream of Dance, which tells the story of a group of young street dancers who have been dancing for ten years.
She says, ‘Life is like a circle, and everything is in a circular manner. Looking back at the screenplay I wrote at UM 15 years ago, it is as if I have returned to my starting point and met a better version of myself. The principles I have been adhering to remain the motivation that drives me forward.’
Text: Kelvin U, Trainee UM Reporters Zou Huiying, Sun Qianqiao
Photos: Trainee UM Reporter Tong Yongming
Source: My UM Issue 138