ABOUT

JI STRANGEWAY is a Vietnamese-American LGBTQ film director and multidisciplinary creator.

Film director by day and writer and poet by night, Ji has built a career crafting compelling narratives that capture the attention and imagination of audiences across a variety of artistic mediums.

Her background as an abstract expressionist painter and poet sets the foundation for her aesthetic sensitivity. In her teens, she earned a mentorship by three-term U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo. She started making films at 17-years-old with a Bolex 16mm camera. Her film career started in the experimental film scene in New York City. Her work headlined alongside Stan Brakhage, one of the most important experimental filmmakers in the 20th century, at Millennium Film Workshop in the East Village.

Joan Jett, the godmother of punk, cited at Ji’s screening by H/X magazine
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before”

TV Guide Online
“an unfettered filmmaker with considerable potential”

As a child refugee of the Vietnam War, Ji experienced poverty, racism, bullying, and homophobia throughout her youth. Her struggle with adversity is reflected in Red As Blue, a hybrid graphic novel that introduces a cross-genre aesthetic. Set in a fictional Colorado desert town in the 1980s, the book follows a teen struggling to make sense of everything—her life, her sexuality, and her future. During that time, there were few role models, as openly-LGBT characters were largely absent from books, TV, and movies.

AfterEllen, says Red As Blue
“blazes a brand-new path for storytelling”

ShortsTV featured Nune in the Films by Her series and Filmmaker Spotlight. Nune draws on the sacred bond of first love between a biracial teenager and queer-questioning cheerleader struggling to unbury their shame at the cost of persecution. The film questions some of the most deeply-held beliefs about inner beauty, love, and acceptance. Nune has garnered millions of views on YouTube and continues to be a fan favorite.

Time Out New York
“I wish more films felt as intensely personal”

Ji’s works of fiction often center on themes of struggle and triumph, stories that evoke a sense of hopefulness even in dark spaces. But in 2019, her stories took a personal turn as she faced her own mortality with cancer. Channeling her painful journey and path of self-love through her writing, she reemerges with a forthcoming spiritual memoir to offer a beacon of light for those struggling to find meaning.

“I want to show today’s generation, as well as future generations, that transformation of energy and creativity is vital in overcoming adversity. And that love is the answer and always will be.”

Her work is an unconventional call to action, her words are for the dreamers and idealists.

Voted by Go Magazine
“100 Women we Love”

When Ji is not busy dreaming up ways to make the world fall more in love with Love, you can find her moon-bathing at the Santa Monica beaches, shopping for punk swag on Melrose, retreating to the evergreens of Colorado, or getting her fix of fish and chips in Edinburgh. Her heart is devoted to Los Angeles, the city of angels.