My guest in Episode 15 is Nicola Fan, an award-winning filmmaker based in Hong Kong. She is currently one of the fifty filmmakers worldwide selected to participate in Werner Herzog’s 2021 Film Accelerator Lab.

Originally a graphic designer working in an advertising firm, Nicola took a leap of faith to pursue a career in film almost a decade ago. Nicola’s first zero-budget documentary ‘Inspire Hope’ shone light on a critical issue of caged homes in Hong Kong, while her 2016 documentary ‘She Objects’ explores the media's influence on young girls in Hong Kong.  From short films and documentaries to MVs, Nicola hopes to use the universal language of film to transcend boundaries between people, cultures and places.

Our conversation covered so many aspects, from film’s unique power to create empathy, minimising unconscious biases as a filmmaker to Nicola’s experience with the Wim Hof method.

Here is a summary of our conversation:

- Creating empathy with film

- The leap of faith: Pivoting from a graphic designer to a filmmaker

- The importance of really ‘LISTENING’ as a documentary filmmaker

- Did becoming a filmmaker affect her passion for film?

- Tackling the stigma of mental health through her new short film ‘Daffodil’

-  Daily grounding practices and switching between Auto and Manual mode

Follow Nicola on instagram @nicolafan or visit her website https://www.nicola-fan.net/! Also, remember to checkout her recent short film @daffodil.film. 

Nicola's selected Up to Some Good platform: Participant Media (@participant) 

Follow Up to Some Good on Instagram @UpTo_SomeGood