Since teaching is an emotional labor, understanding the affective dimension of student engagement with digital feedback is essential. Following the pedagogy of care, this study investigated students’ emotional engagement with interactive video feedback (IV-feedback) for L2 academic writing (screencast feedback allowing students to directly interact with the videos via commenting or reacting features). This case study was conducted in an EMI class of 31 students learning an EMI course involving L2 academic writing activities at a Vietnamese university. Three main data collection instruments included a students’ questionnaire, students’ in-depth interviews, and teaching journals. The findings show that IV-feedback allows learners and lecturers to embrace the pedagogy of care in a culturally responsive way. Most students expressed more positive emotions with IV-feedback than text feedback (mostly thanks to exposure to teacher tone, voice, and social presence). Notably, students felt safer and more willing to interact with IV-feedback than face-to-face feedback, as IV-feedback creates a safer dialogic space to raise questions, especially in Vietnamese collectivist and face-saving culture. These positive emotions are perceived as motivation to revise their writing, potentially leading to improved L2 writing skills. However, some students also expressed certain negative emotions, suggesting the need for careful implementation of IV-feedback.