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I Am Still Me - Documentary

《我还是我》/ I Am Still Me: A Minjae Lee Story is a feature-length documentary directed by Julian Reyes and produced by Kayla Rossi through Resonance Films, their disability-centered production company. The film follows Minjae Lee, a Korean-Chinese pianist and young husband living with spastic cerebral palsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, POTS, and global developmental delays, as he navigates daily life, marriage, music, and the relentless physical realities of his conditions. The documentary premiered on March 20, 2037, at an art-house theater in Los Angeles and was subsequently picked up by PBS for streaming distribution.

The title is drawn directly from Minjae’s own words. During filming, when asked whether the crew should edit out scenes of his pain, seizures, and physical struggles, Jae responded in Mandarin: “Don’t cut the hard parts. They’re me too. That’s still me.” The English rendering of this phrase—“I am still me”—became the film’s title, a declaration of identity and wholeness that anchors the documentary’s central argument: that disability is not erasure.

Overview

The documentary is narrated by Julian Reyes himself, whose low, intimate voiceover guides the viewer through Minjae’s world without interpreting or editorializing. The camera work is deliberately restrained—handheld when necessary, static when the moment requires patience, and always respectful of its subject. Julian and Kayla approached their filmmaking with what critics later described as “reverence rather than voyeurism,” allowing the lens to linger, listen, and wait rather than intrude.

Filmed over several months, the three-hour documentary covers Minjae’s daily routines, his relationship with his wife Minh, his music, his family, and the physical reality of living with multiple severe disabilities. It does not shy away from difficult moments—seizures, CP flare-ups, exhaustion, pain—but it balances these with scenes of joy, humor, love, and determination that present Minjae as a complete person rather than an object of pity or inspiration.

The majority of Minjae’s dialogue in the film is in Mandarin, subtitled throughout. His speech is slow, halting, and slurred, reflecting his developmental delays and the physical effort speaking requires. In occasional moments of emotional intensity, he reaches for English, producing brief, devastating phrases like “I still me” and “Minh is more beautiful” that land with quiet power precisely because of the effort behind them.

Creation and Development

The documentary originated in the aftermath of Minjae and Minh’s wedding in early fall 2036, when Charlie Rivera’s social media post featuring candid wedding photos went viral, sparking both widespread celebration and deeply ableist commentary. The resulting firestorm—amplified by powerful response posts from Minh Tran and Minseo Lee—brought Minjae’s story to a far wider audience. Julian, who had founded Resonance Films specifically to tell authentic disability stories, connected with the Lee family through the broader network surrounding CRATB and the Fifth Bar Collective. When the family was approached, Joon initially refused, fearing exploitation, but Minseo insisted they ask Jae himself. Minjae agreed on one condition: “Only if they show my music. Not just sick me. Music.” From the beginning, Julian was committed to making a film that honored Minjae’s full humanity—not just his talent or his suffering, but the entirety of who he was.

Minseo insisted that consent and boundaries be settled before the camera came out. When Minjae questioned whether the filmmakers wanted him or only his illness, she helped communicate his answer: they needed to show the keys under his hands and the music he made. Her advocacy supported his authority over the project rather than substituting her judgment for his.

Main article: First Day of Filming for I Am Still Me (September 29, 2036) - Event

Joon-Ho approved September 29, 2036, as one trial filming day before he and Nari decided whether production could continue. During the visit, he enforced Minjae’s consent and physical boundaries while Minjae redirected Julian’s planned interview toward the piano, corrected the camera position, and required the frame to include both hands. The day also included rest breaks for Minjae and Julian, a brief focal seizure after Julian woke abruptly, and the filmmakers’ first in-person meeting with Minh.

Nari’s care for both visitors included food, privacy during Julian’s recovery, and time to wake before activity resumed. Her promise to learn Julian’s and Kayla’s preferences communicated that she and Joon-Ho had agreed to let the filmmakers return. Joon-Ho did not make a formal English announcement; he understood more of the day’s English conversation than he chose to speak and allowed Nari to make the shared decision’s practical meaning clear.

Filming took place at the Lee family home in Baltimore, Maryland, over the course of multiple visits. The small crew—primarily Julian behind the camera and Kayla managing field coordination—worked around Minjae’s health, scheduling shoots on days when he was stable enough to participate and pulling back when his body demanded rest. The process was emotionally grueling for the entire team, particularly on days when Jae’s conditions were at their worst. Minjae became deeply attached to the crew during filming, calling them his “movie friends” and asking every morning when they were coming. He resisted naps and rest on filming days because he wanted to stay with them, fighting exhaustion with slurred protests. When filming wrapped, the realization that his movie friends were leaving broke him—he sobbed openly, begging them to stay. Julian and Kayla cried with him, moved by his grief and their attachment to him. Julian knelt beside his chair and promised: “You’re in the movie now. Forever. We won’t forget you.” Julian offered to stay in touch and visit when he could, and the bond between filmmaker and subject became one of the documentary’s most quietly significant legacies.

Julian and Kayla spent their first Baltimore filming trip, roughly one week, at the Residence Inn Baltimore at The Johns Hopkins Medical Campus. After the family agreed to continue beyond Joon-Ho’s trial visit, Kayla arranged a furnished one-bedroom production apartment at The Lucie for later trips. Resonance Films retained the apartment between Baltimore visits and interim returns to Los Angeles. The lease was a major production expense but gave the small team a stable place for equipment, footage backups, early editing, laundry, cooking, and Julian’s recovery periods.

Julian edited the documentary himself, a process that consumed months of intense, hyperfocused work. His own chronic conditions—focal epilepsy, cyclic vomiting syndrome, and chronic migraines—meant that the editing process was frequently interrupted by his own health crises. Kayla often had to physically close his laptop to force him to stop. The final cut was completed during a period when Julian was recovering from a CVS episode. After the March 20 premiere and PBS’s subsequent acquisition for streaming, the network’s approval email arrived while he was asleep on their couch after another CVS episode.

Production Workload

The three-hour running time represented the finished edit of four to five months of filming, scheduled around both Minjae’s and Julian’s health. Julian reviewed, edited, and assembled footage between filming visits, so substantial portions of the documentary were already taking shape before filming wrapped. Editing continued after the final shoots. The work also included reviewing and selecting footage that did not appear in the final film, conducting interviews, maintaining communication with the Lee family, and revisiting decisions about consent and presentation. Time spent with Minjae and Minh contributed to the filmmakers’ understanding of them even when it produced little usable footage.

The lodging chronology followed the production’s changing scale: a short hotel booking for the initial trial period, a retained Baltimore apartment once the family and filmmakers committed to repeated visits, and continued editing in Los Angeles after the Baltimore shoots ended. The apartment lease ended after final filming and production packout; the documentary edit continued without a permanent Baltimore office.

Resonance Films had a few employees during this period, but Julian and Kayla still carried several responsibilities each. Julian combined directing and camera work with interviewing, footage review, editing, and recording narration. Kayla coordinated travel, schedules, family communication, finances, permissions, publicity, and premiere arrangements while continuing the company’s routine operations. Her interviews and friendship with Minh also shaped the film’s account of the couple’s marriage and daily life.

Editing required repeated decisions about sequence, pacing, sound, transitions, and the placement of information. The difficult-day sequence required Julian to revisit footage that had distressed him, discuss its inclusion with Minjae, and incorporate Minjae’s decision into the film. Preparing the release also involved subtitles and captions, credits, the screening version and intermission presentation, and physical copies for sale.

The final production workload substantially reduced Julian’s sleep and left both founders exhausted by the premiere period. Their limited staff provided help but offered little spare capacity when illness, delays, or additional work disrupted the schedule. The demands continued through opening-night interviews and photographs and into the public response after release.

Minjae’s Influence on the Edit

Minjae’s choices heavily influenced which footage Julian kept or cut. Julian understood that some people might consider that degree of influence an editorial risk, but the objection did not change his approach. Tense scenes of the family trying to calm Minjae and footage of medical episodes largely relied on the recorded encounters. When narration was needed, Julian kept it minimal, supplying practical context such as a hospital transfer. Minjae explained within the film why he wanted those scenes retained. When asked about his approach, Julian answered, “It’s not my story to tell.”

Julian used B-roll selectively and sparingly throughout the documentary. He avoided excessive narration and extensive use of supplementary footage, allowing filmed conversations, family interactions, music, and medical episodes to carry much of the film.

Contributors and Key Figures

Julian Reyes

Julian served as director, editor, and narrator. His lived experience with epilepsy, chronic illness, autism, ADHD, and complex PTSD informed his camera placement, narration, and decisions about which footage to include. His narration was low, intimate, and often audibly emotional. Over tense family encounters or medical episodes, any narration was minimal and supplied necessary context; Minjae explained elsewhere in the film why he wanted those scenes retained.

Kayla Rossi

Kayla served as producer and field coordinator. She was the first point of contact for the Lee family, building the trust that allowed filming to proceed. During production, she managed logistics, interfaced with the family, and served as the team’s emotional barometer. Her role extended to social media and marketing, where she shaped the public narrative around the film with careful attention to ethical representation.

Minjae Lee

Minjae is credited as the film’s subject and as a composer, with several excerpts from his album providing the documentary’s musical score. His insistence that the filmmakers not edit out the painful moments—“Don’t cut it. That’s me.”—became the defining creative and ethical principle of the entire project.

Minh Tran

Minh appears throughout the film as Minjae’s wife and co-subject. Her steady, loving presence anchors many of the documentary’s most powerful scenes, particularly the wedding album sequence and the closing interview.

Kayla and Minh also developed a friendship through time spent together beyond the interviews. The film includes their conversations while Julian and Minjae recorded together, as well as scenes with Kayla and Minh on difficult days, including days when Minjae was unwell. In one exchange, Kayla asked, “I bet people are shocked when y’all fight or, God forbid, you’re upset at each other.” Minh responded with a soft laugh and a nod.

Detailed Synopsis

Opening: Filming at the Piano

The documentary opens on a black screen with the sound of a chair moving and Julian asking where he should sit. Minjae corrects his position, and the image appears as Minjae directs the camera toward the piano. An edited sequence follows their setup, with Minseo translating between Minjae and Julian. Minjae questions the camera’s distance and asks for more of the keyboard to be included. His Mandarin dialogue is subtitled in English.

Julian’s voiceover explains that Joon-Ho agreed to a single trial visit before deciding whether filming would continue. Footage shows Joon-Ho standing nearby and watching the setup. Julian describes his anxiety about giving Joon-Ho a reason to refuse further visits and recalls preparing interview questions so Minjae could become accustomed to the camera. Minjae, however, wants to begin playing and grows impatient with the adjustments.

Once the camera is ready, Minjae checks that both hands are visible and begins to play. The voiceover stops, leaving his piano and the room’s ambient sound. During the performance, the camera briefly rises toward Minjae’s face before Julian restores the view of his hands. The film holds on the playing before cutting to black for the bilingual title, ‘’I Am Still Me: A Minjae Lee Story’‘. Minjae’s music continues through the title and into the returning shot of his hands without interruption.

Notable Scenes

Afternoon Porch Interview: My Voice

On a later filming day after Minjae’s twenty-first birthday, Julian interviewed him on the porch after both men had rested and asked what he disliked that surprised people when they met him. Minjae answered in English through AAC, “My voice,” then explained aloud that people did not expect a man in his twenties to sound like him. Strangers asked whether he was twelve and expressed surprise when Nari told them he was an adult. Through speech and AAC, Minjae described his dislike of repeatedly explaining his age and of people continuing to address Nari instead of him. He asked that people address him directly and allow him time to answer. The exchange ended with Minjae acknowledging Julian’s patience: “You… wait,” followed by “Good.”

Day of Pain

The sequence begins with the camera already recording as Julian and Kayla arrive. Julian’s voiceover accompanies his exit from the car and their approach to the house. They can hear Minjae screaming from inside while they are still on the porch, before the door opens.

One of the documentary’s most visceral sequences captures a morning when the crew arrived at the Lee home to find Minjae in severe pain from a CP flare-up. He had been in agony since six that morning, wailing and writhing as his muscles spasmed uncontrollably. Julian’s narration introduces the footage quietly: “When we arrived that morning, something felt different. I couldn’t hear his voice—just sobbing.” The scene includes Nari Lee explaining what happened, Minh rocking Jae gently, Minseo Lee managing the crisis with clinical composure, and Logan Weston appearing in footage to provide rapid clinical guidance. The footage was nearly cut from the final edit, but Minjae himself requested that it remain.

Minseo also pressed for the film to show the aftermath of such a day: the continuing care, exhaustion, and effect on the people who loved Minjae once the immediate crisis had eased. She wanted that reality understood without turning his distress into a spectacle. The interviews included Nari, Minh, and Minseo herself. She asked Logan to speak as their friend, bringing his medical understanding without reducing his relationship with Minjae to a clinical explanation.

Porch Conversation

Following the painful-day footage, the film shows Julian sobbing in the car while Kayla comforts him. It then cuts to another day’s porch conversation in which Julian asks Minjae about including the footage. Minjae tells him to leave it in, speaking in stilted English and looking to Minh only once for interpretation. During the premiere, Julian hears audience members crying and questioning the decision to retain the painful footage before these subsequent scenes play.

In the car, Julian cries because he could not relieve Minjae’s pain. Kayla reminds him that he sat with Minjae; Julian answers, “He was still hurting.” On the porch, Minjae asks Minh to explain Julian’s concern about leaving him “exposed.” After her explanation, Minjae confirms that he has watched the footage and understands what it shows. When Julian says that he hates seeing him hurt, Minjae replies, “I don’t like hurt,” followed by “Still happens.” He reiterates his decision with “Don’t cut” and “That’s me,” and Julian agrees to retain the sequence.

In a golden-lit late-afternoon scene filmed on the family’s porch, Julian and Minjae sit together and discuss why people assume Minjae does not understand things. Minjae’s responses are deliberate and insightful: “People think if body is broken, brain is broken. If voice is slow, brain is slow. Not always true.” He also addresses inspiration porn directly, mimicking the saccharine tone people use around him and dismissing it as “not real, not seeing me.” The scene became one of the documentary’s most widely discussed moments.

Wedding Album

A warm, intimate sequence shows Julian and Kayla sitting on the floor across from Minh and Minjae as Jae shows them his wedding photo album with careful reverence. The photos capture the couple’s wedding day in soft blush tones and sunlight, and Minjae’s commentary is shy but proud: “This my wedding. This me and Minh.” The sequence culminates in Jae explaining why he wanted to share these moments: “Not just the pain. Not just when I cry. But this, too. The whole me.”

Closing Sequence

The closing movement includes footage of Julian pushing Minjae down a hill while both laugh. Julian’s voiceover describes the documentary as the hardest film he has shot and reflects on a friendship that has become more important to him than he imagined. He speaks about what knowing Minjae has taught him about accepting and loving himself. Another scene shows Minjae teaching Julian Mandarin and giggling when Julian struggles with pronunciation.

Minjae repeatedly asks to go down the hill again, prompting Julian’s response, “We’re still doing this one!” The premiere audience laughs and applauds during the footage. Julian’s accompanying narration describes his difficulty accepting help despite readily assuring Minjae that needing assistance is not wrongdoing. Minjae challenges this distinction by asking why Julian treats his own needs differently. Julian concludes, “I like myself more when we’re together. I’m learning how to keep some of that when I go home.”

The Mandarin lesson concerns “xièxie.” Minjae giggles at Julian’s pronunciation, asks him to listen, and demonstrates the word again. After an improved attempt, Julian thanks him in English, prompting Minjae to point at him until he repeats the thanks in Mandarin. Minjae then smiles and nods.

The closing interview includes Julian and Kayla asking Minjae and Minh what they want for their future and what they hope viewers take from the film. Minjae says: “We’re not sad story. We are love story. Music story. Fighting story.” The ending gives Minjae his first voiceover of the film: he says its title, 《我还是我》, and speaks in his own slow, broken English. The premiere audience responds with applause and renewed tears.

Minjae’s closing voiceover accompanies footage of him at the piano. After saying the title in Mandarin, he says, “I… still me,” then “On bad day. Good day,” and finally “Still me.” His recorded voice remains separate from the on-screen piano footage, distinguishing this first voiceover from his earlier filmed conversations.

The credits roll over a montage of candid moments—laughter, care routines, music, hands reaching for each other in the dark—set to one of Minjae’s compositions. A final title card reads: “For every disabled kid who was told they were too much or not enough—You are still you. And you are worthy of being seen.”

Release and Reception

The documentary premiered on March 20, 2037, at a converted art-house theater in Los Angeles. The marquee read the film’s full bilingual title. Food was available, and the guests included many celebrities and disability advocates alongside critics, musicians, journalists, and friends. Minjae attended with Minh, although he was feeling unwell. He needed to sleep through the second part of the screening and gave himself permission to rest in the green room. The people celebrating with him were proud both that he had made it to opening night and that he allowed himself to rest. Minseo Lee arranged a livestream for remote viewers. The audience gave the film a standing ovation.

Theatrical and venue screenings, including the opening-night premiere, included an intermission during which Minjae’s music played and photographs were shown.

During the premiere’s intermission, Julian’s appetite had returned, and he went to the refreshment tables for a grilled chicken platter. He winced at the prices despite being accustomed to living in Los Angeles.

Julian and Kayla arrived by Uber Black after Julian rested at home. Although Julian had made other films, this was his first with this level of media coverage, and he was anxious on the journey; Kayla reminded him to breathe. A photo banner at the venue showed Julian, Minjae, Minh, and Kayla smiling, with Julian kneeling beside Minjae’s wheelchair and hugging him. When their driver asked whether it was Julian’s film, Julian recognized himself in the banner and nodded, too self-conscious to speak. The driver smiled and wished them luck before they stepped out, where Julian was immediately surrounded by people.

Inside the venue, people continued to surround Julian until security and LAPD officers handling crowd control asked them to make room. He passed merchandise tables with T-shirts and other items and a long refreshment table with a substantial queue. Kayla guided him through a door toward the green room; overwhelmed, Julian could not retain the route. Before reaching the green room, he became sick and reached a single-use restroom just in time to vomit.

Kayla stayed with Julian in the restroom and secured the door. After vomiting, he checked his appearance in the mirror; he was still slightly shaky but felt better. When he was ready, Kayla accompanied him into the green room, where Minseo Lee, Nari Lee, and Joon-Ho greeted them warmly. Joon-Ho’s smile surprised Julian, who had found him intimidating when they first met. Further inside, Minjae slept while Ari brushed his hair.

Before the screening, Julian took his prescribed, as-needed anti-anxiety medication and rested in the green room. He continued to contribute briefly to the conversation as he grew drowsy, then let himself doze while the others talked softly around him and the sleeping Minjae. Kayla agreed to wake him before they needed to enter the theater.

Julian slept deeply enough to snore softly before Kayla woke him. Because abrupt waking could trigger his smaller focal seizures, she allowed time for him to become fully alert and functional before they left the green room. Minjae was awake by then; his Mandarin speech and his call of “Ju-huying” accompanied Julian’s gradual waking.

As the auditorium lights dimmed, Minjae sipped a smoothie and bounced slightly in his supported chair with excitement. Julian was fully awake, felt his heart thudding, and held Kayla’s hand as the seated audience applauded. During the second half, Minjae rested in the green room. Julian heard audience members sobbing and questioning the painful footage, including the remarks “Why would you leave that in?” and “He doesn’t need a camera in his face.” Kayla held his hand while the film continued through his own distress and Minjae’s decision to retain the footage.

At the ending, audience members cried, applauded, called Minjae’s name, and rose for the standing ovation. Kayla kissed Julian before they stood together. With Minjae still resting away from the auditorium, Julian told her, “We have to tell him,” followed by “All of it.”

Interviews, questions, and photographs continued for another two to three hours after the screening. By the end, Julian was exhausted enough to stumble. The premiere merchandise sold out, including the physical copies of the documentary that Julian had insisted on producing despite doubting they would sell; additional copies were on backorder.

The livestream allowed Julian’s maternal grandfather, Ruben Alvarez, and his maternal aunt and uncle, Amy Alvarez and Jack Alvarez, to watch the premiere from Ruben’s Fresno home before Julian had reestablished contact with the Alvarez family. They watched the three-hour documentary and remained for the interviews with Julian that followed.

Kayla helped Julian to their car while he was already half asleep against her. Within the first ten minutes of the ride home, he fell asleep with his head on her shoulder and snored gently. The car’s air conditioning masked the sound at a distance, but Kayla could hear it beside her.

After taking his anxiety medication and resting, Julian managed the screening and celebrations emotionally well despite exhaustion. Grief about his father’s absence emerged after he returned home. Julian went to change into his soft pajamas while Kayla took out the trash. On returning, she heard him sobbing from the bedroom doorway and found him clutching a program. She initially did not know the cause of his distress.

Critical Reception

The documentary received overwhelmingly positive critical response. ‘’Indie Film Weekly’’ gave it five stars, calling it “a masterclass in vulnerability” and “a necessary corrective” to sanitized disability narratives. The reviewer praised Julian’s “intentional quiet filmmaking” and noted that the film “trusts you to bear witness—and trusts Minjae to lead the way.”

Not all reviews were favorable. ‘’DocuWatch’’ gave the film two stars, questioning whether the inclusion of raw footage of Minjae’s pain constituted exploitation and implying—incorrectly—that Minjae’s father Joon-Ho Lee had not fully supported the project. The review described the film as “not cinematic” and “more like a video diary than a documentary feature.” The piece drew significant backlash from disabled viewers, disability advocates, and the film community. Kayla responded directly in the comments: “You’re wrong about Joon. And you’re wrong about Julian. But that’s fine. You weren’t listening anyway.” Logan Weston, commenting under his verified account, called the review “staggeringly out of touch.”

Audience Response

The documentary’s impact was particularly profound within disability communities. In a private Facebook group for parents of children with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, the film generated extensive, emotional discussion. Parents described seeing their own children reflected in Minjae for the first time. One mother wrote: “No one has ever shown our kids like this. Not in the messy, beautiful, real way. Not without a narrator pitying them.” Another mother’s honest question about whether her nonverbal son could understand marriage the way Minjae seemed to prompted a thread of supportive responses that affirmed the spectrum of love and connection.

The film also prompted Minh Tran to write a widely shared essay titled “What It’s Like Having a Husband Who’s Considered ‘Developmentally Delayed,’” which challenged assumptions about disabled people’s capacity for love and partnership. The essay was published and became a companion piece to the documentary’s themes.

Themes and Aesthetic

The documentary’s central themes include the right of disabled people to be seen in their fullness, the difference between authentic representation and inspiration porn, the capacity for love and partnership that exists regardless of cognitive ability, and the ethical responsibilities of telling someone else’s story.

Julian’s narration style—quiet, uncertain, audibly moved—positions the filmmaker not as an authority but as a witness. The camera is never invasive. It lingers, listens, and waits. The aesthetic is deliberately unpolished in places, with handheld footage and ambient sound creating intimacy rather than spectacle. The musical score draws from Minjae’s own compositions, their spare, aching beauty providing emotional texture without manipulation.

Legacy and Influence

The documentary’s impact extended beyond film criticism into disability advocacy, medical education, and public understanding of intellectual disability and chronic illness. The LGS parent community’s embrace of the film connected families who had previously felt isolated. Minjae’s friendship with Caleb Ross, which had begun through maternal-arranged video calls in early 2036, predated the documentary and continued as the film expanded Minjae’s public reach.

The film established Resonance Films as a significant voice in disability-centered filmmaking and cemented Julian Reyes’s reputation as a director of uncommon empathy and ethical rigor.

Media Documentaries 2037 Julian Reyes Minjae Lee Resonance Films Disability Representation