Still from Hidden Letters. Close up of a woman's hand drawing a floral design in ink on paper. Around the floral design, there are vertical rows of "Nushu" script.

Still from Hidden Letters

Production still from Hidden Letters. An elderly woman is sitting on a chair, looking at a piece of red paper that she holds in her hand. She is illuminated by light coming in through the doorway. To her left, a woman is holding a boom mic, and to her front, a man is crouched with a camera pointed in her direction.

Production still from Hidden Letters

Production still from Hidden Letters. Co-director Qing Zhao is pictured from the waist up. She is wearing a black turtleneck and a grey harness and a camera bag attached with cables. She has on headphones over her ears, and is holding a boom microphone in her right hand.

A woman wearing a cheongsam dress is sitting on grass and behind her there is a low-level waterfall feature. In front of her there is a camera on a low tripod, and a woman crouched next to the tripod. A man wearing headphones is upright, holding a boom microphone above the woman in the dress.

Production still from Hidden Letters. A woman is walking on an elevated grassy row in a rice field. She is wearing headphones and a utility bag around her waist, and is carrying a boom microphone. Behind her, there are several women bent over working in the rice field, and two white windmills in the distance.

Black and white portrait of Violet Du Feng.

Photo: Lauren Colchamiro

Violet Du Feng

Zhao Qing looking to her side and smiling. She has short dark hair, and is wearing a light-colored blouse. Black and white portrait, with out of focus background.

Photo courtesy Zhao Qing

Zhao Qing

Two Chinese women sit next to each other. The young wan inclines her head to read what the elderly woman has in her hands: a yellow paper. The sunlight illuminates part of the room.