Meet Kathleena Yiting Lin | Director & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kathleena Yiting Lin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kathleena Yiting, why did you pursue a creative career?
Purely by coincidence, I got into the liberal arts studies in NYU Florence and had a wonderful creative writing professor, Elisa Biagini, a Florentine poet. She inspired me into writing fiction and poetry. It all started with people watching, then gradually turned into spending nights at the Arno with a fountain pen, a journal, the purple sunset and a bottle of Chianti.
Eventually, I fell in love with rivers and always traveling alone to see them. The Danube, the Isar, the Amstel, the Bosporus… Their waves flicker silently, and whisk me into a white space which houses thousands of untold stories. I become a chronicler and a storyteller, being forever intimate with this realm of familiar strangeness.
Early spring. The Danube. Brisk wind, light rain. I was sitting at the bank and it cried out to me. Suddenly, I had an urge to embrace it. I jumped into the river and made love with it. At that moment, I felt being coalesced into it, into the water, the air, the soil. All I saw was the Danube’s grayish blue. I believe this experience is the earliest awakening that the centre of the world is not love or myself, but moods which paint the surrounding world in imperceptible yet impassioned colors.

I want to capture these colorful moods and moments and I believe film is the most sensorially informative art form and medium for this purpose.

A shy glance, an electric touch,
tender wind brushing through sunset reed fields,
whisper against the back of his neck
Heartbeats louder than the sounds of reeds

I cannot think of another medium that can directly convey and situate the audience in this moment. I would like to show beautiful moments to the world through magical stories.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As a Chinese Canadian living in the United States, navigating the maze of political correctness in today’s world is a challenge I constantly grapple with. In America, identity politics often takes center stage, pushing me into a corner where I’m expected to offer up my stories on a platter of ‘exotic’ struggles. But here’s the twist – my upbringing in Canada didn’t come with a handbook on feeling different until I was suddenly bombarded with inquiries about my background and how my art connects to my Chinese heritage.

The truth is, I had a very happy childhood, devoid of the struggles often sought after by curious audiences. My desire is simple: to write strange stories with happy endings to the public, unfettered by the chains of color or gender. The world is only becoming more international, and come-on, let’s start celebrating our similarities rather than dwelling on what sets us apart. Let’s prioritize telling good stories, stories that speak to a universal heart regardless of the exterior.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would recommend them taking a flight to NY, enjoy the jazz clubs, new independent gallery openings, checking out underground music bands in the weekend, and grabbing everything on rice at a halal food stand. Or you can take a flight up north to Vancouver and enjoy fresh water, air, and sashimi.
However, if you must stay in LA, then I would recommend Monsieur Marcel Restaurant at the Farmer’s Market, Laguna Beach, drive up north to Santa Barbra, or perhaps go to Palm Springs.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My forever supportive parents, my shy friends who never fails to surprise me with their very strange, sometimes dangerous minds (Victoria, Fox, Ivan, Phoebe), my influencers, Luis Buñuel, Leos Carax, Agnès Varda.

Instagram: @kathleenav3

Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/kathleenalin