Wang's project, Immaculate, was her graduation piece for this program, marking her debut as a filmmaker directing and starring in her own work.
In this documentary, Wang partnered with Amael Borzee, an IUCN ecologist, and a professor at Nanjing Forestry University in East China's Jiangsu province, to venture into the remote rural areas of Jiangsu and its neighboring province, Anhui, in search of the elusive Chinese immaculate tree frog.
The journey began with a rescue mission in June 2023 when Wang observed that despite Shanghai being one of the frog's original habitats, the species had not been sighted in the past decade.
Borzee informed Wang that animal conservation organizations were considering reintroducing the tree frogs to their former habitat in Shanghai, but the first step was to find tree frogs in "amplexus" — a mating position in which male frogs clasp onto females for fertilization.
Wang's hometown of Taizhou in Jiangsu is also one of the few remaining habitats of the Chinese immaculate tree frog, but she had never encountered one during her childhood. Instead, she learned about it through stories passed down by her elders.
"I'm eager to revisit my hometown and uncover the truth about the tree frogs," she said.
However, locating these frogs presented significant challenges. According to Wang, these creatures rely on healthy rice fields for survival, but unfortunately, factors like climate change have disrupted their habitats, leaving many drier than before.
Since the frogs' breeding season coincided with the mosquito-infested summer season in the humid southern regions, during filming sessions, concerned about the frogs' delicate skin, Wang avoided using mosquito repellents that could harm them. Instead, she and her team opted for protective clothing like long sleeves and pants to ward off insects.
"We were a feast for mosquitoes," Wang joked. Despite returning to the hotel covered in bites, she had no regrets.
After more than 10 days of searching and overcoming numerous obstacles, Wang finally discovered a mating pair of Chinese immaculate tree frogs in a village in Anhui on the very last day of filming, when she was considering giving up.
