I’m Lola Lee, a documentary filmmaker and the founder of Reelfood (UK).

My work is rooted in observation and listening. I take a slow and intimate approach, spending time within people’s lived environments and allowing stories to unfold in their own rhythm. The films exist in the tension between intention and unpredictability, shaped by a considered visual language, yet open to the complexity of real life.

Over the past decade, I have worked across non-fiction storytelling in China, from television to branded documentaries, consistently exploring the relationship between people and food. Since moving to London, my practice has shifted towards a more author-driven direction, engaging with themes of migration, cultural identity, and urban transformation as seen through food. My recent film A Taste of Belonging emerges from this ongoing exploration.

To me, food is more than sustenance, it is a language that carries memory, identity, and connection. Through food, I enter the world: to understand individual lives, and to observe the movement of culture and society.

Reelfood is an extension of this practice, not only a platform, but a way of working. It is an ongoing inquiry into how food can connect personal narratives with broader social questions.

I believe cinema has the ability to reframe the everyday, and that personal experiences can serve as a pathway to understanding one another.