7 Beats Per Minute at CIFF

Yuqi Kang is a freediver and filmmaker who will present two films at the 2024 Calgary International Film Festival.

Yuqi Kang (BFA '11, Drawing) will present her Intuitive Pictures/National Film Board of Canada co-production 7 BEATS PER MINUTE, which had its world premiere at SXSW 2024 in Austin, TX. It has been selected for film festivals around Canada this fall, including the Atlantic International Film Festival in Halifax and the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Filled with intimate cinéma vérité camerawork, astonishing underwater imagery, and raw personal interviews, award-winning director Yuqi Kang’s feature documentary 7 BEATS PER MINUTE delves into the harrowing life story of freediving champion Jessea Lu. 

The Chinese freediving champion came late to the sport, vaulting into the top-tier talent with remarkable ability and a compulsive drive to challenge her limitations. During a world record freediving attempt in 2018, she blacked out and was lifeless for four minutes. As the boundaries between the filmmaker and her subject grow more fluid, the two return to the site of Jessea’s near-death experience to face the traumas of her past and find a way back to light, air and, ultimately, connection.

Also in Calgary, Kang presents her new narrative film Thorn, a horror/genre short dealing with a mother-daughter relationship from an Asian immigrant perspective.