This idea began with my own ayi— Zhu Xiuyin— a woman who spent over two decades with my family, raising me and my brother, keeping our home whole, and moving through our lives with quiet strength and care. When I returned home to Shanghai this past December, I was greeted by a stranger.

“This is your new ayi,” my mother said, casually.

I paused. “Where’s Zhu Ayi?”

“Oh,” she replied, already moving on. “She retired.”

And that was it. No goodbye. No photo on the wall. A bag of pork cabbage dumplings she made still sits in the freezer, as she always saved them for me.

Her absence hit me with a grief I didn’t know how to describe. Because how do you mourn someone who was never officially family, yet shaped the foundation of your childhood? That moment stayed with me. It made me realize how rarely women like her are acknowledged, not just as helpers or background figures, but as whole people with stories, voices, and lives of their own.

This documentary is for her. And for the women like her— who left their own homes to tend to others’, who became essential and invisible all at once, and whose legacies live quietly in the families they helped raise.

Impact Statement

Ayi is a tribute to the women who quietly shape the lives of families that are not their own. It is a film about care, sacrifice, and the kind of legacy that leaves no name in a family tree — but a memory in a child’s heart.

This documentary does not aim to vilify the families who rely on domestic workers, nor to idealize the labor itself. Instead, it sits in the human space in between — where real love coexists with power imbalance, where a smile can mean both affection and endurance. My goal is to center the ayi’s voice — and to invite viewers to reflect on what it means to build a home for others at the cost of your own.

By sharing these women’s lives — their routines, memories, joys, and regrets — Ayi hopes to spark a deeper conversation around care as a form of labor, and labor as a form of love. The documentary also serves as an archival act: a preservation of voices that too often fade into the background, despite how loudly they’ve echoed through the lives they’ve touched.

Why Now?

Domestic labor is one of the most underprotected and undervalued sectors globally, and yet it sustains the emotional and practical infrastructure of millions of families.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO):

• 75.6 million people work as domestic workers worldwide, with over 80% being women
• In the Asia-Pacific region, there are approximately 38.3 million doenstic workers, accounting for 50.6% of the global total
• In China, estimates suggest there are about 20 million domestic workers, many of whom are rural migrants

Ayi fills that gap. It gives voice, dignity, and screen time to the women who have long stood in the background — and asks global audiences to reconsider the value of care in their own lives.

How we will make this film

This film will be shot in verité documentary style, following three domestic workers as they move through both the homes they care for and the families they’ve left behind. We’ll film on-location in China, focusing on intimate, everyday moments — cooking, caretaking, commuting — to ground each subject’s story in their lived experience.

We are working with a small, nimble team to keep the production intimate and respectful. The documentary will be captured over several trips, allowing time for trust to build between us and our subjects. We’re prioritizing ethical storytelling — this means informed consent, sensitivity around filming in private homes, and working collaboratively with each subject every step of the way.

The funds we raise will go directly toward travel, gear rentals, local crew, translation services, and post-production. Every dollar helps us honor these women’s stories with care, depth, and dignity.

Current Budget Breakdown

Our total production budget is $14,300, which includes travel, equipment, post-production, and more. We are partially self-funding this project, which allows us to keep our Seed&Spark goal at $8,000 — just enough to get us through the most essential parts of production.

• Camera Rentals - $2,000
• Production (crew, meals, transportation, supplies) - $1,000
• Post-Production (editing, sound, color) - $3,000
• Cast compensation for their time - $2,000

Any funds raised beyond our goal will go toward a contingency fund and help offset additional post-production and distribution costs.

We’re keeping our footprint small and intentional, and every dollar you contribute brings us one step closer to honoring these stories with the care and quality they deserve.

How You Can Help

• Contribute to the campaign! This is just the start of our fundraising journey. We’re currently raising funds for production, but we’ll continue seeking support for post-production and distribution — so every dollar truly helps.
• Share our campaign with friends, family, coworkers — anyone you think would connect with this story.
• Engage with us on social media! Follow, like, and repost — it helps boost visibility more than you know.
• Instagram: @ayi_thefilm
• Personal: @jaacquelinec_

Feel free to copy and paste this post to help us spread the word:

My friend is making a beautiful, heartfelt documentary about domestic workers in China — a story rooted in love, sacrifice, and care. Follow @ayi_thefilm on instagram and support the campaign here: www.seedandspark.com/fund/ayi-documentary

Thank you so much, and we hope to share this story with you soon!