Zhang Yuan

Infobox actor


imagesize = 150px
name = Zhang Yuan
張元
birthname =
birthdate = 1963
location = Nanjing, China
yearsactive =
spouse = Ning Dai
website = http://www.zhang-yuanfilms.com/

Zhang Yuan (Traditional: ; Simplified: ; pinyin: Zhāng Yuán) (born 1963 , Nanjing, China) is a Chinese film director often considered a pioneering member of China's Sixth Generation of filmmakers. Zhang received a BA in Cinematography from the Beijing Film Academy in 1989.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yuan" in [http://books.google.com/books?id=xjQ7ifqiIksC "Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers"] . Routledge Publishing, p. 419. ISBN 0-4151-8974-8. Google Book Search. Retrieved 2008-08-24.]

He is married to screenwriter Ning Dai, the sister of fellow director Ning Ying.

Career

Feature films

Zhang first emerged onto the film scene shortly after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and as such is often seen as one of the pioneers of the loosely defined Sixth Generation. Despite having graduated from the now prestigious Beijing Film Academy, Zhang decided to eschew his assigned position within the PLA-connected August First Film Studio, choosing instead to produce his films independently. [Barmé, Geremie R. (2000). [http://books.google.com/books?id=dfXhiGzG6HAC "In the Red: On Contemporary Chinese Culture"] . Columbia University Press, p. 190. ISBN 0-2311-0615-7. Google Book Search. Retrieved 2008-08-24.] Much of his early films were shot in a documentary-style and Zhang himself referred to these early films ("Mama", "Sons", and "Beijing Bastards") as "documentary feature-films." [ cite web
url= http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Sep/75527.htm
title=Art of Regret: Talking Film with Zhang Yuan
publisher = China.org
author = Li Xiao (translator)
date = 2003-09-19
accessdate=2007-09-08]

His debut, "Mama", a semi-documentary account of a mother and her retarded son is still seen as one of the first films of the Sixth Generation movement and as China's "first independent film since 1949".cite web
url=http://www.zhang-yuanfilms.com/home/EN/films.htm
title= Zhang Yuan's films
publisher= Zhang-yuanfilms.com
author=
date=
accessdate= 2007-09-08] His next film, 1993's "Beijing Bastards" follows Beijing's disaffected youth subculture. His film, "Sons" meanwhile, like "Mama", also blends the line between fiction and documentary film, as the actors are playing themselves, recreating the actual destruction of their family due to alcoholism and mental illness. In 1996 Zhang filmed China's first homosexual-themed movie, "East Palace, West Palace".

After "East Palace, West Palace", Zhang's style began to shift away from documentary-like neo-realist dramas to more conventionally filmed features. 1999's "Seventeen Years", a family drama and also the first Chinese film with approval to shoot inside a Chinese prison, nevertheless proved a significant international success winning the Best Director award at the Venice Film Festival. 2002-2003 continued to see Zhang approaching more commercially viable works as well as Zhang's most prolific period yet, directing three films in the course of a year. The cinematic version of the Communist opera "Jiang Jie", the celebrity-helmed romantic-mystery "Green Tea", and the romantic drama "I Love You" were successful, if a far cry from his earlier "underground" works.

In 2006, Zhang directed "Little Red Flowers", based on writer Wang Shuo's semi-autobiographical novel "It Could Be Beautiful". The film garnered a CICAE award at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival.

Documentaries

Between many of his feature film efforts, Zhang often makes long-form documentaries. 1994's "The Square" documents daily life in Tiananmen Square, several years after the events of the 1989 Democracy demonstrations. The film was shot surreptitiously under the guise of being a CCTV crew.

The late 1990s, meanwhile, saw Zhang indulging again in his interest in documentary form with "Demolition and Relocation" in 1998, an account of the destruction of Beijing's Hutongs. In 1999, Zhang made "Crazy English", which followed Crazy English-founder and motivational speaker Li Yang in a film Zhang himself described as a cross between "Triumph of the Will" and "Forrest Gump".Berry, Michael (2002). "Zhang Yuan" in " [http://books.google.com/books?id=a5oy2HlLth8C Speaking in
] . Columbia University Press, p. 144. ISBN 0-2311-3331-6. Google Book Search. Retrieved 2008-08-25]

2000's "Miss Jin Xing", meanwhile, follows Zhang's interest society's marginalized with a touching portrait of China's most famed transsexual, Jin Xing, a man who in 1996 decided to become a woman. Jin's story is told through a series of interviews with those who know her as well as with Jin herself.

Other media

Besides films, Zhang has also directed numerous music videos and commercials. His most fruitful of collaboration was with Chinese musician Cui Jian, with whom Zhang made several music videos, including the winner of the Best Asian Video, "Wild in the Snow", in the 1991 MTV Music Video Awards.

Filmography

Notes

External links

* [http://www.zhang-yuanfilms.com/ Official site]
*imdb name|name=Zhang Yuan|id=0955451
*amg name|id=2:203636|name=Zhang Yuan
* [http://www.cinemovie.info/PremioBresson2006_Notiziario.html Cinemovie.info: Robert Bresson Vatican Award 2006 to Zhang Yuan]
* [http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Sep/75527.htm Interview with Zhang Yuan]