Meet the Finalist: Lu Yi, "Something to do with Death"

Tell us about yourself, and about Something to do with Death.

I was born in China and came to Australia alone 10 years ago. Being an actress is not a childhood dream, because my traditional Chinese family was expecting me to study something like accounting, business same as most of the other Chinese oversea students, however, I never had any interests in those areas. After I had my very first stage role in 2012 I realised that acting is something that holds my soul. Since then, I started to try my best to get close to what I love doing. I studied a Master of Media degree at RMIT which gave me a lot of opportunities to be creative. During that time, I was able to direct, to produce, to act, from then on, I gradually noticed that I just love storytelling and filmmaking as a whole.

Share a memorable moment you experienced working on this project.

A memorable moment I experienced working on ’Something To Do With Death’ is probably the crying scene on the bridge at night. It is because just like the character ‘Catherine’, English is my second language, I could deeply resonate with her when she is trying to express how hurt her feeling is to the man she loves but she can’t do it well with English. I totally see the barrier when two in loved people are from different cultural backgrounds, it is hard, but it is also beautiful.

Name 3 collaborators that you'd take with you to any other project.

The writer/director Bramwell Noah, the costume designer Terry Tubbs and the DOP George Katsalidis.

3 tips you’d like to share with aspiring artists in your field:

1) Filmmaking is all about collaborating, everyone is as important.

2) Don’t compare with others, but learn from others.

3) Work hard is not enough, just work harder.

What do you hope to achieve in your career in the next 5 years?

In the next 5 years, I wish I could keep telling good stories whether it is through acting or other filmmaking roles. I just love to keep inspiring people and also getting inspired by others in this artistic and creative field.

Something to do with Death is nominated for Best Actress of the Year at the New York Film Awards.