Rachel JeeHye Thomas, 23, is a media arts senior who was born in South Korea and came to Tucson when she was adopted at the age of two. Her film “”Lulee”” will be screened May 11 as part of the “”I Dream in Widescreen”” media arts senior film showcase that starts at 5 p.m.

Wildcat: Tell me about the “”I Dream in Widescreen”” event.

Thomas: “”I Dream in Widescreen”” will take place in mid-May, and it’s at the Loft. It will showcase all of the seniors’ thesis films. At different points and stages in the production process, post-production process, we showed our versions to different people to get feedback. We had a rough cut, which is like a rough draft of a paper, and then we have a fine cut in a couple of weeks and that is kind of a second rough draft before the final.

W: What is your movie about?

T: My film is about a French-Japanese girl who wants to help people but doesn’t know how. She ends up doing so by spreading Post-its that she has written, and it’s kind of like a Sofia Coppola, Wes Anderson kind of feel. It was shot on campus but we were able to avoid the desert feel and Japanese, French and English were spoken in it. There’s a little bit of martial arts in there, too, and I think people our age can relate to it just because it deals with a lot of self discovery.

W: How has your time at the university helped your career, ideas and your work?

T: The way that the department spreads the word about “”I Dream in Widescreen,”” it really opens it up to the Tucson film community. It gets our work out to people that probably wouldn’t see it, so you get film critics from Tucson coming out to see it and to view student films.

W: What do you like to do besides work in the media arts field?

T: I love to paint. I like taking stuffed objects and placing those on the paintings too. It’s kind of weird but it creates a 3D effect, and I like my garden. I have an indoor garden.

W: What is the nicest thing someone has said about your work?

T: “”That’s very you, Rachel.”” (Making films) really helps me find myself. I find myself through the characters, or I see the characters in me. This film really helped get a lot of anxiety out of my system through this character. To be able to find yourself through your art and then be able to share it through a medium that allows a lot of people to see it – I think it really validates your feeling as a creative person.

W: What has been the meanest thing someone ever said about your work?

T: You know most of what I’ve received has been constructive criticism and that’s from my peers, and they’ve really helped shape the work that I’ve made and hopefully I’ve helped shape theirs. I don’t think there have been enough people to criticize anything that I’ve done in a nasty way.

W: What is the most disgusting food you have ever eaten? Why did you eat it or try it?

T: Pigs’ feet. Foot. When I was about6, my parents brought it home and wanted me to try it. My parents are from the South; they’ve got a heavy southern accent and everything. I have no idea why they brought that home. I mean it wasn’t like a cultural thing. I’ve seen it at the store so you should check for it. I think it’s under ethnic foods.

W: If you had to chew gum for an entire day once a week, or eat pigs’ feet once a week, which would you choose and why?

T: I’d have to say gum because my taste buds prefer the gum.

W: Where do you see yourself in five years?

T: Hopefully making a feature (film).

W: What is special about your work?

T: I think that I like to zoom in on the quirky, unseen things in life. I have an appreciation for characters, which I think is hard to come by nowadays, especially those that are so vibrant.