Overview
Lei He is a documentary filmmaker whose work is grounded in a background in journalism and a deep interest in social realities, labor, and communities that are often overlooked or unheard. Her work explores the lives of individuals shaped by changing social and economic landscapes, with particular attention to labor, dignity, and the relationship between people and their environments.She is interested in the intersection of social issues and cinematic language, and in expanding the possibilities of nonfiction through observational documentary, visual experimentation, and poetic approaches to storytelling.
Her experimental documentary Drifting follows a miner and his sheep through the coal-mining landscapes of northern China. Blending observational documentary with poetic cinematic language, the film unfolds across three intertwined temporalities: geological time embedded in coal and mountains, bodily time shaped by labor and breath, and more-than-human time shared by humans, animals, and the landscape.
Drifting received the Gold Medal in the Alternative/Experimental category at the 53rd Student Academy Awards.