Constantly Seeking the Truth: Meet Yushan Chen

Humans with Josh Levent

My guest today is Yushan Chen, a 29-year old Chinese filmmaker now living in Los Angeles. Yushan talks about her very strict education, only being allowed by her parents to read good books and listen to Western classical music.

She also talks about her rebellions, one of which was learning how to play the Jinghu, a traditional two-stringed Chinese instrument with a sharp sound, which is very hard to play.

She takes us through falling in love and discovering rock music, dealing with depression and getting out of it and studying filmmaking at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles (among other subjects).

What makes Yushan very human is her constant search for the truth and her belief that women should be free, independent and brave.

On today’s podcast:

• Her earliest memory and her first rebellion
• Her tough years within the Chinese educational system
• Falling in love and discovering rock and metal music
• Studying journalism at university and being disappointed with the career prospects in China
• Dealing with depression
• The path that led her to filmmaking

Links:

• Yushan’s IMDb