Please scroll down for the English version- UNNC alumna brings untold stories to the screen through award-winning documentary work.

最近，騰訊視頻紀錄片《了不起的媽媽第二季》熱播，上線后迅速登上平臺紀錄片熱榜。

鏡頭前，八位母親袒露真實人生，講述關于愛、成長與選擇的故事；鏡頭后，作為該片導演之一，負責將這些故事搬上熒幕的，是寧波諾丁漢大學（簡稱“寧諾”）2022屆國際傳播專業畢業生姚璐。

寧諾畢業后，姚璐前往美國視覺藝術學院深造。如今，她作為紀錄片創作者活躍于紀錄片領域，多部作品入圍紐約國際紀錄片電影節、瑞士真實電影節、CNEX華人紀錄片提案大會等多個影展。

姚璐在紐約紀錄片電影節

從“成就孩子”到“看見自己”

作品將鏡頭對準母親本身

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紀錄片的播出引發了網友的熱烈關注與討論，不少觀眾評價其：緩解育兒焦慮，呈現女性超越母職的生命力。

不同于第一季圍繞 “成就孩子”展開敘事，第二季將鏡頭更多地對準了母親本身：曾深陷雞娃焦慮的上海媽媽阿胖，擁有了熱愛的事業成為百萬育兒博主；作為“小鎮做題家”獲得成功的海淀媽媽李琦，當孩子陷入分數焦慮時，沒有繼續把壓力推向下一代，而是給予理解與安慰；曾背負原生家庭創傷的李冬，通過自我重建，擁有了幸福的三口之家。

姚璐坦言，相較上一季，這些不同人生軌跡的母親都不約而同地“看見自己”，制作團隊便設定“女性成長”這個主題，聚焦母親作為個體的真實狀態。

姚璐在紐約上課和拍攝作業

在姚璐看來，這正是紀錄片最迷人的地方：“隨著社會變化，個體價值觀也在不斷變化。紀錄片不僅要記錄人物做了什么，更要走進她們當下的處境，洞悉她們此刻最真實的情緒和需求，反映出大環境的變遷。”

制作《了不起的媽媽2》之前，她的鏡頭還聚焦過逐夢樂壇的高校說唱愛好者、以觸覺丈量世界的視障人士等等群體。

這份對人的敏銳觀察，在她的畢業紀錄片《Lend me by your eyes》（《借我你的眼睛》）也充分體現出來。憑借對人物細膩且有力量地呈現，該片榮獲Paula Rhodes Prize（保拉·羅茲獎）——這是美國視覺藝術學院授予畢業創作與學術研究表現最突出的學生的最高榮譽，當年全系僅姚璐一人獲此殊榮，該片還入圍世界三大紀錄片電影節之一的瑞士真實電影節。此外，她在校時創作的人物短片還曾入圍紐約國際紀錄片電影節。

姚璐在美國視覺藝術學院畢業展映

心懷火種

在跨文化視野中記錄多種人生

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姚璐認為，寧諾點燃了她的熱愛，并給予她思想啟發與視野拓展。姚璐回憶，當時她擔任寧諾中國文化課《爝火》欄目主編，將文字和鏡頭對準身邊富有獨特生命力的同學和校友：有人每日清晨在校園觀鳥、有人執著于攀登一座座大山，有人著迷于創作懸疑小說等等。

課堂之外，姚璐還先后前往字節跳動和傳統媒體企業實習來積累行業經驗，直到一次在上海的紀錄片公司實習，為她推開了紀錄片的大門，也讓她逐漸明確自己的方向——讓“人的故事”跨越時間與空間，被更多人看見。

于是畢業時，她將目標鎖定在一個極為小眾卻與熱愛高度契合的方向——美國視覺藝術學院社會紀錄片專業。面對這條并不尋常的道路，姚璐選擇遵循內心：“當既定的評價體系擺在面前時，人容易產生路徑依賴。但在寧諾開放探索的環境中，我會愿意為自己的熱愛付諸行動。”

最終，姚璐如愿被錄取，成為該專業全球招錄的四人之一。來到紐約后，她依舊保持著這種對“人”的好奇，常從紐約時報上尋找感興趣的人物線索，用鏡頭記錄那些隱藏在城市褶皺中的人：變裝皇后舞臺下的另一面生活、時代廣場的流浪者等等。在美國求學期間，老師就曾夸她：“你有一雙不可思議的電影眼。”

面對紀錄片行業的不確定性與現實挑戰，姚璐顯得自信和篤定：“無論是文字、短視頻還是紀錄片，都是表達載體之一。未來我也可能嘗試更多形式，但我始終相信紀錄片有一些珍貴價值是代替不了的，總要有人在這個領域堅持，我也愿意為了這樣的價值堅持。”如今，她依然帶著那份在寧諾點燃的火種，走向更多的人生現場。

UNNC alumna brings untold stories to the screen through award-winning documentary work

Tencent Video’s hit documentary series Marvelous Mom 2 has resonated deeply with audiences across China for its honest portrayal of motherhood, identity and personal growth. Behind the camera, one of the directors of the series is Yao Lu, a 2022 International Communications graduate from University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), who is now building a promising career as an independent documentary filmmaker.

After graduating from UNNC, Yao continued her studies at the School of Visual Arts in the United States, where her graduation documentary Lend Me Your Eyes won the prestigious Paula Rhodes Prize, the highest honour awarded by the School of Visual Arts to the graduating student who demonstrates the most outstanding achievement in creative work and academic research. That year, Yao Lu was the only student in the entire department to receive the distinction. Today, her work continues to focus on one enduring belief: that every ordinary life deserves to be truly seen.

Turning the camera towards the people behind the stories

In Marvelous Mom 2, Yao and her team shifted the focus away from parenting success and towards the inner worlds of mothers themselves. The series follows women navigating anxiety, self-discovery and personal transformation, capturing moments of vulnerability and resilience that have struck a chord with viewers.

For Yao, documentaries are not simply about recording events, but about understanding people in their most honest and emotional moments.

“A documentary should not only show what someone has done,” she said. “It should help us understand how they feel and what they are experiencing at that point in their lives, which will also reflect the changes of the world around them.”

This sensitivity to human stories has shaped many of her projects, from documenting university students chasing music dreams to portraying visually impaired individuals experiencing the world through touch. Her films are marked by warmth, empathy and a quiet attentiveness to lives that are often overlooked.

A passion first ignited at UNNC

Yao credits UNNC with nurturing both her creativity and her curiosity about people. During her studies, she served as editor-in-chief of Torchlight, a Chinese culture column project that highlighted the lives of ordinary people on campus — students passionate about birdwatching, mountain climbing, or novel writing.

She says the university’s international environment and emphasis on independent thinking encouraged her to observe the world with greater openness and critical insight.

After internships at ByteDance and other media organisations, Yao discovered documentary filmmaking during an internship in Shanghai. It was there she realised that the stories she most wanted to tell were those rooted in real human experiences.

Rather than following a conventional career path, she applied for the highly competitive Social Documentary programme at the School of Visual Arts, where only four students worldwide were admitted that year — Yao among them.

Carrying forward stories that matter

Now based between different creative projects and documentary productions, Yao continues to seek out stories hidden beneath the surface of everyday life — from performers and migrants to people living on the margins of large cities.

Even in an industry filled with uncertainty, she remains deeply committed to documentary storytelling.

“Documentaries hold a kind of irreplaceable value,” she said. “Someone has to continue telling these stories, and I hope to keep doing that.”

From the classrooms of UNNC to international documentary film festivals and major streaming platforms, Yao’s journey reflects the power of storytelling rooted in empathy, curiosity and human connection — and a belief that every life, no matter how ordinary it may seem, is worthy of being seen.

圖文來源：Jenny Zhuang, Tony Bao

電子編輯：Suri An

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