Mai Hua is a filmmaker, writer, color designer, and one of the most emotionally honest storytellers I know. Her work doesn’t just explore intimacy, it practices it.

Born in Paris to Vietnamese immigrant parents, Mai was raised to be pleasant, high-achieving, and accommodating. But one deceptively simple question from her then-boyfriend, now husband—“Tell me who you are”—pierced the surface. It cracked open everything she thought she was supposed to be. Her willingness to even try answering it became, in her words, "an act of love."

Mai has been on a creative and spiritual journey toward what she calls l’intime—“the inside of the inside.” Her groundbreaking documentary Les Rivières traced the hidden emotional inheritance of the women in her family. Her second film, Make Me a Man, co-created with her husband, the British psychotherapist, Jerry Hyde, brings viewers into men’s therapy groups where emotional truth is the only currency. Her upcoming project, May Day, follows a 12-day group therapy circle, continuing her exploration of what it means to live and love honestly. And on her top-rated Substack Tell Me Who You Are, she asks and explores the hard questions, in public, with vulnerability, laughter and grace.

In this conversation, we talk about:

• Why l’intime is more powerful than identity
• How telling someone who you are can be the ultimate act of love
• The quiet safety that lives inside emotional truth
• Why midlife is fertile ground for creative and spiritual freedom
• How courage begins with speaking from the heart

Mai’s work invites us to find the courage to speak as close to the heart as your consciousness allows. After this conversation, I felt empowered to have some overdue conversations of my own. I hope it opens something for you too.

💫 Want to take this work deeper? Join me this June in Paris for Creative Camp—a five-day immersive designed to reignite your creative spark. Learn more at zevabellel.com/creative-camp

Connect with Me:

•Book a discovery call at www.zevabellel.com

•Subscribe to my Substack: On Becoming

•Email me: [email protected]

•Leave me a voice message on Speakpipe

Credits: Artwork Jessie Kanelos Weiner; Editing Matthew Jordan; Music © Fabrice Fortin; Mai's photo bt Lyloutte Studio

P.S. If you love this episode, share it with a friend, leave a 5-star review, or drop me a line. I love hearing from you!

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