Strength in Your Voice; Your Story
Zhanella (Z) Langit discusses the importance of embracing your own story and leaning into difference.
It takes a long time to realise that all you need to create a good film is your voice - your story.
I had always believed that what everybody else was doing was better than what I was up to. By comparing myself to others, I became an artist creating from a space of imitation rather than of my own subjectivity.
Don't get me wrong - we all start from imitation. It’s foundational to finding strength in your voice. Through all the copycatting, you learn to adapt existing ideas and styles out while still making something new. Maybe you pick and choose what you like about one idea and combine it with another style. Through it all, you internalise all your influences and build an arsenal of knowledge, skills, and techniques.
Through all the copycatting, you learn to adapt existing ideas and styles out while still making something new.
Somewhere down the line of my creative journey, imitation evolved beyond replication and began to catalyse innovation. The strong foundation of newly acquired skills and techniques became integrated with the little things about myself and my story. Together, they prompted me to develop ideas with a unique creative expression.
It’s easy to arrive here, but hard to believe it’s worth anything. Being my own worst critic, I still struggle to find significance in my voice or my story.
I no longer view other filmmakers, creators, and artists as competition. Instead, I see them as fellow creatives -peers in the same boat.
Having been at this crossroads time and time again, I have learnt a few things that have helped me move forward.
On the one hand, I have shifted my perspective: I no longer view other filmmakers, creators, and artists as competition. Instead, I see them as fellow creatives -peers in the same boat. Talking to them, and sometimes
even collaborating, has helped me grasp that I do have something worth saying.
I’ve also come to understand that what I love about my favourite film, that one Salvador Dali painting, or a video from a YouTuber I follow is their unique perspective. Each is distinguishable from the others, but all still resonate with me. This guides me to find my difference and lean into it, not to be different for the sake of it, but to be distinctly myself because I am my greatest resource.
The ultimate lesson across both these insights is to find strength in my voice is to create from a space of abundance, not lack. That mindset affords me the liberty to create from a place of possibility and to remain optimistic.
I try to remember these things whenever I step into the creative space. And you should too, when you begin your next project. Someone out there would resonate with what you have to say and your story.
And if not, do it for yourself.
About Z (He/Them):
I'm Z and a Filipino-Kiwi filmmaker. I want to create emotionally resonant narratives that amplify underrepresented voices, challenge perspectives, and inspire empathy, connection, and dialogue.