Portraits of a Young Girl

Portraits of a Young Girl is a deeply personal and politically resonant animated short by Betty Yao-Jung Chen, created during her time at UCLA in the 1970s. What begins as a gentle study of young women’s faces—tenderly rendered in pencil—gradually shifts into a searing commentary on state violence, culminating in a powerful allusion to the 1970 Kent State shootings. Through subtle animation and an unexpected narrative turn, Chen crafts a quietly urgent meditation on youth, identity, and the brutal intersections of innocence and political reality.

Film Content Advisory: Flashing Images, Gun Violence

Credits
Writer: Betty Chen
Producer: UCLA
Executive Producer: UCLA

Plays in

LA Rebellion: Toward a More Perfect Rebellion — Conversations with Josslyn Luckett

Spanning generations of filmmakers shaped by the LA Rebellion and UCLA’s Ethno-Communications program, this program revisits the urgency, experimentation, and community-rooted vision that defined a movement