By Sade Goodridge
mail@floridanewsline.com
On March 28, 2022, the Ponte Vedra High School Chinese program won first place in the 2022 Florida Statewide Chinese Competition creative category. In this category, high school students were asked to create a short film that aligned with a specific theme. As the students were in Level 4, they were required to put together a video on a Chinese invention or technology.
In an effort to be unique and hopefully ensure a win, students Charlotte King, Andrew Liu, Ally Lu, and Alex Vorobjov produced an amusing film on a relatively unknown product: the Chinese invention of the Facekini. The Facekini is a mask designed for swimmers and beachgoers which covers the head and reveals only the eyes, nose, and mouth. It was invented by Zhang Shifan 2004, a former accountant from the coastal Chinese city of Qingdao which became the hometown of this fashion trend.
Thus, on a cold February morning, with the help of extras Maya Conway, Jace Lim, Grace Nuri, Hazel Parent, and Anna Wilson and a script written by Sade Goodridge, the actors filmed their video on the novel product entirely in Chinese.
Their heady gamble paid off. The combination of both an obscure product and the intent of creating a video with a humorous tilt named “Facekini!!” was a winning combination.
Photo courtesy Sade Goodridge
Andew Liu, Alex Vorobjov, Yan Li, Ally Lu, and Charlotte King.
