A student film explores an end-of-life story: How Jingyi Li created the documentary that swept the Redstone Film Festival

A student film explores an end-of-life story: How Jingyi Li created the documentary that swept the Redstone Film Festival 
Boston University, College of Communication, Boston, MA; by Mike De Socio; 5/27/25 
When Jingyi Li set out to create a documentary about healthcare for elders, she struggled to find a family willing to sit in front of her camera. Li (’25) was inspired by the power of filmmaking to create social impacts, and wanted to explore hospice care in Chinese culture. The interest stemmed from Li’s experience interning at a local hospice care center in Yunnan Province, China, where she witnessed the complexities and cultural sensitivities involved in providing care for terminally ill patients within Chinese families. With the help of a hospice and palliative care service in Boston, Li started reaching out to Chinese families about filming the end-of-life process, but many rejected her request. ... She eventually found a “brave family” whose roots in the US date back to the mid-20th century. Li says the family’s “mix of Chinese and Western culture” made them more amenable to being filmed.  ... The resulting short documentary, named Pópo for the elder at its center, went on to win a bevy of awards at this year’s Redstone Film Festival, including best film and best documentary.