May 14, 2025 | LMU SFTV Awards: Best Documentary for a Story Close to Home

On May 14, 2025, at the LMU SFTV Awards Ceremony, the documentary I sound designed was honored with Best Documentary.

From left to right: Eleanor Wang (Editor), Jasmine Zhao (Director), Giselle Liu (Sound Designer).

This project was not just another assignment—it was a deeply personal, introspective documentary about growth, memory, and home. As the sound designer, I was drawn to the challenge of shaping a sonic world that didn’t just accompany the visuals, but revealed the emotional undercurrents beneath them.

The film begins with the director’s return to her hometown, Beijing—a city that also happens to be my own. As we developed the sound design together, I found myself transported back to the memories of my own life there. That connection led me to incorporate some of Beijing’s most distinctive sonic textures: the distant trill of pigeon whistles, the rhythmic clatter of electric trolleys. These weren’t just background sounds—they were emotional triggers, designed to immediately situate the audience in a sensory space that feels both real and remembered.

Throughout the process, the director and I shared the same desire: to let sound guide the audience through the subject’s internal journey. We wanted the sound to evolve subtly as the character grew—capturing not just moments, but shifts in emotion, time, and memory. It was important to preserve the authenticity of the documentary while also giving the soundtrack a sense of movement and intentionality.

From carefully selecting ambient layers, to deciding when not to use music, this collaboration taught me so much about restraint, rhythm, and emotional storytelling. The process was not only technically rewarding but creatively freeing—I found so much joy in building a soundscape that felt both invisible and essential.

Winning Best Documentary is an honor. But more than that, I’m grateful for the chance to contribute to a film that reflects something so personal and universal: the quiet, powerful sound of growing up.