Born in Beijing in 1967, Zhang Yang graduated from the directing department of the Central Drama Academy in 1992. Soon after, he won widespread attention and respect with a stage production of Manuel Puig’s Kiss of the Spiderwoman starring Jia Hongsheng. Aside from further work in the theater, he went on to direct more than twenty underground music videos in the early 1990s. In 1996 he teamed up with the American producer Peter Loehr, who had just launched the independent film company Imar in Beijing.
Their first collaboration, the comedy-drama Spicy Love Soup, not only topped the Chinese box-office for its year but also marked the start of an enduring partnership. Their second feature Shower was another huge commercial success (sold to 56 countries, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics in the US) and won eleven awards at nine different international film festivals — including Best Director at San Sebastian, Best Film and Best Director at Seattle, and the FIPRESCI prize in Toronto. Their third feature Quitting, a docu-drama based on the real-life drug addiction and schizophrenia of its star Jia Hongsheng, won the FIPRESCI prize in Stockholm. And their fourth feature Sunflower, a semi-autobiographical film about a difficult fatherson relationship, took Best Director and Best Cinematography prizes in San Sebastian. The top Hollywood talent agency CAA (Creative Artists Agency) has recently opened an office in Beijing, and has signed Zhang Yang as one of its first clients.
Chinese short film directed by Zhang Yang. A young man running in Beijing ’s Hutong (Huang Jue) overhears the phone of a woman at the table in KFC and tries to contact him; in the bar, a group of boys bid for the girl ’s favorite for a chance to order songs; Found himself being followed by a skater boy. At the same time, the protagonist (Jia Hongsheng), who was found to be tracing, was … Read more
The second of Zhang Yang’s Dali Documentary Trilogy. An orchestra of sound and images of Dali, a symbolic city of romance and art. It includes various sounds including those of nature and human, of different seasons, arts, and all kinds of voice in Dali. There is daring inclusion of the religious voices. The crew filmed in Dali for an entire year. It takes people to a harmonious and peaceful journey. By capturing the voice and … Read more
Years ago, artist Shen Jianhua moved from Shanghai to a remote mountain village. His drawing lessons have a profound effect on the lives of the people who take them. The master painter’s home is an open house for his painting guests. One of Shen’s pupils is impressed by his modern lifestyle and wonders if he and his new wife should move to the city.
After discovering a sacred stone in the mouth of a deer he just killed, Taibei, a young lonesome Tibetan cowboy, embarks on a long and difficult mission: to bring it back to the holy mountain of Buddha’s handprint. His journey turns sour as an obstinate woman, Joan, and a psychic yet dumb elf, Pu, soon decide to join him. Not to mention the two violent brothers on his tale, who are on a revenge quest.
Paths of the Soul documents the simplicity of spiritual life on the world’s highest plateau, where the rarefied air makes each and every humble gesture an arduous task.
Docu-drama follows the journey of a group of Tibetans on a pilgrimage to Lasa, the holy capital of Tibet.
Sunflower is the story of the Zhang family in Beijing father, mother and son across three decades, centering on the tensions and misunderstandings between father and son. Nine-year-old Xiangyang is having the time of his life, free of adult supervision until the day he meets the father he can hardly remember. Having spent years away, he returns with strong ideas about his son learning to draw. But Xiangyang chafes under his father’s constant rules and … Read more
An aged father and his younger, mentally challenged son have been working hard every day to keep the bathhouse running for a motley group of regular customers. When his elder son, who left years ago to seek his fortune in the southern city of Shenzhen, abruptly returns one day, it once again puts under stress the long-broken father-son ties. Presented as a light-hearted comedy, Shower explores the value of family, friendship, and tradition.
‘Aiqing mala tang’ (‘Spicy Love Soup’) starts with a young couple eating sweet (or sour) and spicy soup from a two-sided bowl shaped in a Yin and Yang pattern. Until the couple’s wedding at the end of the film, ‘Aiqing mala tang’ intermittently shows six different episodes about different generations’ relationships. Love can be sweet, sour, or spicy. And, you’ll taste all those emotions from this contemporary Chinese film ‘Aiqing mala tang’.
Driverless is about three love stories that are intertwined by a car accident. It deals with several relationship issues, including the infamous seven year itch, reuniting with a first love, one night stands, an old husband with a young wife, and extramarital affairs.
A black comedy about a farmer who tries to bring home the body of his friend, who died far from their town. Getting Home (落叶归根; Lùo yè gūi gēn) is a 2007 Chinese comedy/drama film directed by Zhang Yang and starring Chinese comedian Zhao Benshan.
An actor becomes increasingly introverted and psychotic and his entire family attempts to intervene. Jia, an actor and former drug addict, battled his addiction to marijuana and heroin for five years from 1992 to 1997.