BBA student wins Best First Time Filmmaker Award at Cannes Shorts

March 21, 2023

In the opening scene of “Moving On,” a Wilfrid Laurier University student award-winner at the 2022 Cannes Shorts film festival, two siblings sit across from one another on a patch of grass, talking casually.

One of the siblings, named Rowan (played by actor Curtis Leung), pauses and ties a braided bracelet around the other sibling’s left wrist. Their name is Rory, (played by Daibei Wang).

“When you look at this, you’ll remember that I’m always here for you,” Rowan says.

It turns out to be a promise he can’t keep. Rowan leaves home after telling their parents he is involved in a same-sex relationship, something of which his mother does not approve.

Rowan doesn’t say anything to Rory before leaving, and she is left in the dark. Her texts and calls to him go unanswered. She becomes distraught, fights angrily with her parents and threatens to leave home too.

The film is an emotionally charged meditation on the complexity of family relationships, homophobia, and generational trauma, co-written and co-directed by fourth-year Lazaridis School of Business and Economics Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) student, Catherine Zhang.

It tells a beautiful, moving, and impactful story in around 16 minutes, and caught the eyes of judges at the prestigious Cannes Shorts festival earlier this year.

They recognized Catherine and her friend, co-writer, and co-director Gwynneth Lee — a student at York University — with the festival’s Best First-Time Filmmaker Award.

“Being recognized is nice,” said Catherine, a marketing student in the BBA program at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics who is minoring in Film Studies.

“But it's mainly motivation to keep working hard. This was my first time writing and directing so there was a lot to learn from and improve on in the future.”

Catherine and Gwynneth developed and wrote the screenplay for “Moving On” in about two months. They had met in 2021 through a Facebook group for people interested in screenwriting.

They were both drawn to exploring the concept of being stuck in life and unable to move on.

For Catherine, this stemmed from physical injuries and trauma related to a vehicle collision.

Themes of homophobia and differing cultural values also resonated with Catherine. Catherine came out to her parents at around age 16, a difficult experience due to their pre-existing values.

Both of Catherine’s parents immigrated to Canada from China, and it was difficult for them to understand this aspect of her identity.

“But time really helped with a lot of things,” said Catherine, noting her father now makes casual comments that indicate her family understands.

“There's a lot to unpack with generational trauma. Anyone with immigrant parents will experience it — the contrasting cultures and the differences in growing up.”

“And sometimes you can't blame them, but it’s a good opportunity to educate them.”

The entire shoot for “Moving On” took place in less than 48 hours in Mississauga after rehearsals on Zoom.

This was the first time on a film set for Catherine, who relied on Gwynneth for support during the compressed shoot.

“Working with Catherine was a great experience,” said Gwynneth. “In the creative aspect of film, we have a great dynamic. Catherine is a great writer and great at communicating - so she took charge of those tasks, while I have more skills on the technical side such as camera operating and editing — so I took charge on those. Together, we make a great team!”

There was essentially no budget for “Moving On.” The actors wore their own clothes as costumes. There were no expensive props or special effects involved.

Catherine and Gwynneth each spent less than $100 on the film out of their own pockets — and even then, it was only to provide food for the cast.

Catherine believes her business studies at Laurier helped prepare her for “Moving On” and for future film projects — particularly pitching ideas to investors, a staple of any marketing class. Now working as an assistant producer for a video advertisement, she is relying on skills learned from finance and marketing classes.

After graduation, Catherine plans to work for a few years and then consider pursuing a master’s degree in screenwriting. She is already working on the concept for her first feature film.

“If you're studying business, there are many ways you can apply your learning. You don’t necessarily have to go down traditional paths. You can transfer skills you learn in a business program to anything.”