Wang Xiaoshuai

Wang Xiaoshuai (simplified Chinese: 王小帅; traditional Chinese: 王小帥; pinyin: Wáng Xiăoshuài; born May 22, 1966) is a Chinese film director, screenwriter and occasional actor. He is commonly grouped under the loose association of filmmakers known as the “Sixth Generation” of the Cinema of China.

Many of Wang’s works are known for their sensitive portrayal of teens and youths, most notable in films such as Beijing Bicycle, So Close to Paradise, Drifters, and Shanghai Dreams. His 2008 film In Love We Trust was an exception as it portrays marital strains.

In 2010 Wang was appointed a chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He also served as a member of the jury of the BigScreen Italia Film Festival 2006, held in Kunming, Yunnan, China.

Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai
Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai

Poster for the movie "Chinese Portrait"

Chinese Portrait

Shot over the course of ten years on both film and video, the film consists of a series of carefully composed tableaux of people and environments. Pedestrians shuffle across a bustling Beijing street, steelworkers linger outside a deserted factory, tourists laugh and scamper across a crowded beach, worshippers kneel to pray in a remote village. With a painterly eye for composition, Wang captures China as he sees it, calling to a temporary halt a land … Read more

Poster for the movie "So Long, My Son"

So Long, My Son

The changes in Chinese society from the 1950s to the ’80s, as experienced by two families.

Poster for the movie "Red Amnesia"

Red Amnesia

A retired widow has her daily routine derailed when she starts receiving mysterious, anonymous phone calls.

Poster for the movie "11 Flowers"

11 Flowers

A coming-of-age story set during China’s Cultural Revolution. 11 year old Wang Han finds himself entangled with a fugative and struggles to understand the adult world.

Poster for the movie "The Days"

The Days

Wang Xiaoshuai’s debut feature was one of the first truly independent Mainland productions. An incisive portrait of urban anomie focusing on two bohemian artists who drift through the miasma of old Beijing in the 1980s, The Days presents a stark disparity to the nostalgic tone and lush visuals of the Fifth Generation with its defiant DIY aesthetic, non-professional leads and resolute present-tenseness.

Poster for the movie "Shanghai Dreams"

Shanghai Dreams

In the 1960s, encouraged by the government, a large number of families leave Chinese cities to settle in the poorer regions of the country, in order to develop local industry. The film’s main character is a 19 year old girl who lives in the Guizhou province, where her parents have settled. That’s where she has grown up, where her friends are and where she first experiences love. But her father believes that their future lies … Read more

Poster for the movie "Chongqing Blues"

Chongqing Blues

Lin, a sea captain, returns from a 6 month journey when he is told that his 25-year-old son Lin Bo has been gunned down by the police. In his quest to understand what happened, he realizes he knew very little about his own son. He starts a journey back to Chongqin, a city he once lived. He will understand the impact of his paternal repeated absence on the life of his child.

Poster for the movie "In Love We Trust"

In Love We Trust

A divorced couple learns that the way to possibly save daughter, who is suffering from blood cancer, is to have another child. Problem is: They’re both already remarried.

Poster for the movie "Beijing Bicycle"

Beijing Bicycle

A seventeen-year-old country boy working in Beijing as a courier has his bicycle stolen, and finds it with a schoolboy his age.

Poster for the movie "Frozen"

Frozen

A young performance artist decides to make his own suicide his last work of art. On the longest day of the year, he plans to melt a huge block of ice with his own body heat and die of hypothermia. He calls this protest against the coldness of society “Funeral on Ice.” Based on a true story.

Poster for the movie "So Close to Paradise"

So Close to Paradise

Two young farm workers, who like millions of others, leave their village to seek their fortunes in the city. Each chose a vastly different path to make it and become embroiled in misunderstandings, gangster brawls and police raids.