Chinese Directors
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Kaige Chen was born on 12 August 1952 in Beijing, China. He is a producer and director, known for Farewell My Concubine (1993), Yellow Earth (1984) and The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021). He has been married to Hong Chen since 1996. They have two children.- Director
- Actor
- Producer
Zhuangzhuang Tian was born in April 1952 in Beijing, China. He is a director and actor, known for Cha ma gu dao xi lie (2004), Springtime in a Small Town (2002) and The Blue Kite (1993).- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Yimou Zhang was born on 14 November 1951 in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. He is a director and writer, known for Hero (2002), House of Flying Daggers (2004) and Curse of the Golden Flower (2006). He has been married to Ting Chen since December 2011. They have three children. He was previously married to Hua Xiao and Hua Xie.- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Zhangke Jia was born on 24 May 1970 in Fenyang, Shanxi, China. He is a producer and director, known for Ash Is Purest White (2018), A Touch of Sin (2013) and Mountains May Depart (2015). He has been married to Tao Zhao since 7 January 2012.- Director
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- Producer
Lu Chuan is considered one of the most talented young directors in China, and his films are known for daring and commercially successful takes on historical and social issues.
After receiving a Master's degree in film studies from Beijing Film Academy in 1998, Lu Chuan started as a co-writer for Black Hole, which became one of most-watched TV series in China. His directional debut, The Missing Gun (2002), a black comedy about a small-town policeman who searches desperately for his missing gun, was presented at Cannes, Venice, and Sundance. It won Best Script at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Best Maiden Work Award at the College Student Film Festival of China.
Lu Chuan's second feature, Kekexili, (or Mountain Patrol, 2004), won praised from critics around the world. Lu Chuan used his beautiful and tense style to show the heroism of the Tibetan volunteers who fought poachers to protect the endangered Tibetan antelope. The film turned Lu Chuan into one of the most popular directors in China with great commercial value in the Chinese film market. It won numerous awards including the Special Jury Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival, Best Picture and Best Cinematography at the Golden Horse Awards, Best Film (shared) at the Golden Rooster Awards, the Don Quixote Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, Outstanding Film and Outstanding Director at the Huabiao Film Awards, and Best Asian Film at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Lu Chuan was then chosen a juror at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
Lu Chuan worked on his third film, City of Life and Death (2009), for four years. This epic film brought to the screen the story of the Nanjing Massacre by Japan during WWII in China. The director's unique take on the massacre attracted over 3 million viewers and made $30 million domestically, making him the fifth director in China to pass the 100 million RMB mark ($16 million USD). It won for Best Director and Best Cinematographer at the Asian Film Awards, Best Cinematography at the Golden Horse Film Awards, Best Film at the Oslo Film Festival, Achievement in Directing and Achievement in Cinematography at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, and Golden Shell prize and Best Cinematography at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
In 2012, Lu Chuan released The Last Supper, based on the fall of the Qin dynasty and the founding of the Han dynasty, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2015, he released Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe, a 3D action adventure film which made $106 million USD at the Chinese box office. His newest film, Born in China, is a Disneynature feature to be release worldwide in 2016-2017.- Producer
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Jianxin Huang was born on 14 June 1954 in Xian, China. He is a producer and director, known for The Warlords (2007), The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021) and Gimme Kudos (2005).- Director
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- Cinematographer
Ziniu Wu was born in 1953 in Leshan, Sichuan, China. He is a director and writer, known for Evening Bell (1989), Deng Xiaoping at History's Crossroads (2014) and Huan le ying xiong (1988).- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Mei Hu was born on 2 September 1958 in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China. She is a director and producer, known for Han Wu Da Di (2005), Confucius (2010) and Enter the Forbidden City (2018).- Director
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She entered the Directing Department of the Beijing Film Academy when it reopened in 1978 and graduated in 1982. Her second and third feature films, _The Bloody Morning_ and _Family Portrait_, won the Grand Prix at the Festival of Three Continents and the Jury Award at Locarno Film Festival respectively.- Director
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- Cinematographer
Xiaowen Zhou was born in 1954 in Beijing, China. He is a director and writer, known for Ermo (1994), Zui hou de feng kuang (1989) and The Emperor's Shadow (1996).- Director
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- Writer
Ping He was born in 1957 in Shanxi, China. He was a director and producer, known for Ri guang xia gu (1995), Mai tian (2009) and The Promised Land (2015). He died on 10 January 2023 in Beijing, China.- Director
- Writer
Junzhao Zhang was born in October 1952 in Beijing, China. He was a director and writer, known for Arc Light (1989), Yi ge he ba ge (1984) and Blood from Mother's Hand (1992). He died on 9 June 2018 in Dalian, Liaoning, China.- Editor
- Director
- Actress
Miaomiao Liu is known for Ye yan (2006), A World Without Thieves (2004) and Yong Zheng wang chao (1997).- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Xiaogang Feng was born on 18 March 1958 in Beijing, China. He is a writer and producer, known for Mr. Six (2015), A World Without Thieves (2004) and Assembly (2007).- Director
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- Producer
Ning Ying is a prominent Chinese director, screenwriter and producer based in Beijing. She has been defined by Harvard's Nieman Reports as "China's premiere woman director," and Peter Keough from The Boston Phoenix refers her as "one of her country's major talents."
She graduated from Beijing Film Academy and then from Italy's National Film School. While studying in Rome she befriended Bernardo Bertolucci; he later hired her as assistant director for THE LAST EMPEROR. She completed a fellowship at Harvard University and was awarded to the Order of the Star of Italy for excellence in the arts. The Peace Women Across the Globe Association nominated her among 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1990 she directed her first film, the comedy blockbuster SOMEONE LOVES JUST ME, soon followed by her internationally acclaimed "Beijing Trilogy": FOR FUN/1992, ON THE BEAT/1995 and I LOVE BEIJING/2000. According to Harvard's Nieman Report, it represents "both a historical document of the transformation of the filmmaker's native city and her cinematic eulogy to a form of life that is rapidly vanishing" and received many prestigious international awards, making her a pioneer of Chinese urban cinema.
In 2002 her RAILROAD OF HOPE won first prize at the Cinema du Reel in Paris. Jean Michael Frodon wrote: her cinema "foreshadows the urban minimalist fictions that represent the most meaningful advances of the next generation of Chinese cinema d'auteur, from Zhang Yuan to Jia Zhang-ke, to Wang Chao."
In 2005 PERPETUAL MOTION was presented at Venice Int. Film Festival and was regarded by Giovanna Fulvi as "undoubtedly a turning point as concerns the women's image in Chinese cinema", as well as "a milestone for women in the new Chinese cinema." Cristina Piccino has also referred her film style as "a poetic and political borderline cinema, having a Rossellini's style passion for mixing fiction with reality... in such sense Ning Ying was a 'mentor' for Jia Zhang-ke's generation"
In 2013, her TO LIVE AND DIE IN ORDOS, a film that is highly appreciated by Yoshihiko Yatabe as "an aspect of China's contemporary history" and was awarded Best Actor at Tokyo International Film Festival, China HuaBiao Award for best picture, best film at China WuGeYi Best Works Award, and best screenwriter at China Filmmaker's Association Award.
Ning Ying has been a jury member at numerous International Film Festivals, including Berlin, Locarno, Torino, Tokyo film-ex, Yamagata. She is the head of Film Department of Central Academy of Fine Arts - College of City Design.- Cinematographer
- Director
- Producer
Changwei Gu was born on 12 December 1957 in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Til Death Do Us Part (2011), Farewell My Concubine (1993) and Kong que (2005). He has been married to Wenli Jiang since 1993. They have one child.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Wang Xiaoshuai (Director, Writer, Producer)
Wang Xiaoshuai is one of very few masters who remains true to his art in spite of rampant commercialism in the Chinese film market. Evoking the trauma of ordinary Chinese people caught in extraordinary times, his works span different eras, yet consistently reflect a strong social conscience.
Born in 1966, he was a graduate of Beijing Film Academy. At 27, he emerged as one of the key Sixth Generation directors with his debut feature The Days (1993) ,it was selected as one of the best 100 films of all time by the BBC in 1995. He followed up with Frozen (1996) and So Close to Paradise (1998), the later premiering in the Un certain regard section in Cannes. Wang's gritty depiction of listless youth in a time of bewildering social changes earned him international critical acclaim, but none of his early films could be officially released at home. Beijing Bicycle (2001) won the Grand Jury Silver Bear in Competition at the Berlinale, for a stunningly fresh image of Chinese teenagers negotiating the class gap in a new age of materialism.
Wang's works have competed in Cannes Film Festival four times, three times in the Berlinale, and also at Venice and San Sebastian film festivals. For his artistic accomplishments, he has received many distinguished honors notably the Grand Jury Prize for Shanghai Dreams (2005) in the Cannes Main Competition and the Berlinale Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for In Love We Trust (2008). His recent work Red Amnesia (2014) was selected in competition for the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival, and the latest title So Long, My Son (2019) won two Silver Bears for the Best Actor and Actress at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival, both examine the far-reaching consequences of the past on the present.
Filmography The Days (1993) Frozen (1996) So Close to Paradise (1998) Suburban Dreams (2000) Beijing Bicycle (2001) Drifters (2003) Shanghai Dreams (2005) In Love We Trust (2008) Chongqing Blues (2010) 11 Flowers (2011) Red Amnesia (2014) So Long, My Son (2019) Documentary: Chinese Portrait (2018) Short film: After the War (2001) The Cornfield (2015) Reflection (2017)- Director
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Yuan Zhang was born in October 1963 in Nanjing, China. He is a director and producer, known for Kan shang qu hen mei (2006), Seventeen Years (1999) and East Palace, West Palace (1996).- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Yang Li was born in 1959 in Xian, China. He is a writer and producer, known for Blind Shaft (2003), Blind Mountain (2007) and The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014).- Director
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jianjun He was born in 1960 in Peking, China. He is a director and writer, known for Postman (1995), Hu die de wei xiao (2001) and Man yan (2004).- Director
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- Producer
Ye Lou was born (in 1965) and grew up in Shanghai, a city he would film beautifully in his Suzhou River (2000) (Suzhou River). After studying cinema at the Beijing Film Academy, the gifted young man debuted in the film career as an assistant director, a producer and a short subjects director. His second feature Zhou mo qing ren (1993) (Weekend Lover) was both a public and critical success, crowned by the Fassbinder Prize. In 1997, he accepted to produce "Super City", a TV series for which he hired ten of the most promising names of the sixth-generation-directors. Three years later, he came to international prominence with Suzhou River (2000) (Suzhou River), an ambitious artistic meditation on love and the status of woman in the rapidly changing Chinese society as well as a moving ode to his home town Shanghai.- Director
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- Cinematographer
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Yang Zhang was born in 1967 in Beijing, China. He is a director and writer, known for Getting Home (2007), Shower (1999) and Aiqing mala tang (1997).- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Wen Jiang was born on 5 January 1963 in Tangshan, China. He is an actor and director, known for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Let the Bullets Fly (2010) and Devils on the Doorstep (2000). He has been married to Yun Zhou since 2005. They have two children. He was previously married to Sandrine Chenivisse.- Cinematographer
- Director
- Actor
Yue Lü was born in 1957 in China. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Red Cliff (2008), Thirteen Princess Trees (2006) and Shanghai Triad (1995).