Student Excellence in Video Storytelling, Long-form, Short-form or Social

Cynthia Liu; Other contributors: Fallon Maher, “Places like this,” UNC-Chapel Hill

ABOUT THE WORK: The video story was created as part of a team project for an international projects journalism class at UNC-Chapel Hill. It is accompanied by a written story, photographs, and graphics made by other students, surrounding the La Goyco community center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the larger issue of the closures of schools across Puerto Rico in recent years. 

The project was presented, alongside four other student projects from the class, at a public screening in Chapel Hill, NC, which was also live streamed and included many participants from Puerto Rico. The screening also included a live Q&A session at the end, including the opportunity to pose questions directly to Puerto Rican students and other members of the community who helped with translation and networking on the ground. The work is hosted on a student-made website that features all of the multimedia reportage from the class.

Cynthia Liu is a documentary filmmaker and photographer based in New York. She is a 2023 grad from UNC-Chapel Hill, and was previously a VOICES Video Fellow, a multimedia intern at the Malheur Enterprise, and co-published the photo book Lunchbox as part of the 2021 and 2023 ASAP cohort of North Carolina Asian Americans Together. She is driven by a love for language, moving storytelling, and character-driven narratives of identity, home, and belonging.

Judges’ comments: “This project was elegantly crafted with thoughtful cinematography and editing. The interviews in the piece are very strong and deliver a powerful story of a local community and its resilience.”

Honorable Mention: Angela Zhang, “A Border and 10 Years Apart: Mixed-Status Families Call for Immigration Reform,” Medill News Service

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