Dear Vanessa
Dir. Roku Long, Prod. Liz Ji & Emily Ruan, USA, 2023, 14MIN
Amidst a heart-wrenching night out in NYC, two Asian girls, Lucy and Vanessa, unexpectedly discover love in each other's arms. Lucy envisions a film that tells their story, and in secret, She resolves to turn that dream into reality.
Clips from Dear Vanessa
Starring Jueun Sanho Kang, Isabell Yunru Chen
Director of Photography, Leon Chongpo Liao
New York, New York, 2023
"Dear Vanessa was a deeply personal project for me — a story about a girl who falls for another girl, told through the tenderness and confusion of first love. Directing it felt like writing a love letter to my younger self, and to all the quiet emotions that often go unspoken between women.
The film itself began as a real love letter — written by my friend Liz, to her close friend Vinca. We turned this letter into a film and brought it to life. Set in New York’s East Village, Dear Vanessa carries a sense of warmth, longing, and youth — a reminder that love, in all its forms, deserves to be seen and felt."
