ABOUT LEAH

Leah Xiuzhen Rathe was adopted from China and raised in the US. She grew up with her mom and adopted brother in Montana and Minnesota, and calls Brainerd her home. She also attained a Bachelor’s Degree in Digital Media Arts and earned a Paralegal Certificate from Hamline University. Leah has always shown an affinity for creativity, and throughout most of her life, Leah has cultivated connections with individuals and communities through her artistic and media work. Leah has launched her own media business, Leah XR Creative, which offers videography, graphic design, and photography services. She is very passionate about the impact of art and media and aims to create with meaning and intention. Many of her projects have included topics such as gender equality, the criminal justice system, and social justice.

Through the Ignite Rural Residency, Leah created the short film "CHOPSTICK" as a way to represent her experience as a transracial adoptee and to connect with communities and spark further conversation about transracial adoption and representation. Over the last few years, Leah has dove significantly into her identity as a transracial adoptee, and wants to see more transracial adoptee representation in media, as it is not an experience she often sees represented. The concept for "CHOPSTICK" was based on Leah's experiences of getting chopsticks at restaurants while her white friends would receive forks. The expected ability and familiarity with chopsticks has been a common motif with regard to her racial identity throughout her life, and she wanted to use this idea as a whimsical way of representing race in the short film.

Website: leahxrcreative.com

Facebook: Leah XR Creative

Instagram @leahxrcreative