“Bringing this captivating chapter of South China Sea history to a broader audience is an incredibly exhilarating opportunity.”

In a whirlwind of creativity and culture, the Tribeca Festival came alive this year, showcasing an array of Asian and Asian American creators who transported audiences into immersive worlds of films and games. Amidst the captivating lineup, three remarkable Asian visionaries emerged: Michaela Ternasky-Holland, Poulomi Basu, and Maja Bodenstein (马丫儿).

Maja Bodenstein 马丫儿, writer of the VR game The Pirate Queen: A Forgotten Legend, says that the story was inspired by her childhood experience in Hong Kong. “I have always been aware of Cheng Shih’s incredible story growing up: how a flower boat girl of obscure origins maneuvered her way into leading the largest pirate fleet in the world, at a time when up to half of all Chinese women still had bound feet. Her story has long been overdue for telling, and I can only assume that the grand scale of it made it difficult in the past – something that we were able to circumnavigate through VR,” says Bodenstein.

Read more on AsAm News here.