In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhang (张).
Professor
Zhang Yimou
张艺谋
Zhang in 2023
Born
(1951-11-14) 14 November 1951 (age 72)
Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
Alma mater
Beijing Film Academy
Occupation(s)
Film director, producer, cinematographer and actor
Notable work
Full River Red House of Flying Daggers Cliff Walkers The Flowers of War
Spouses
Xiao Hua (肖华)
(m. 1978–1988)
Chen Ting (陈婷)
(m. 2011)
Children
Zhang Mo Zhang Yinan Zhang Yiding Zhang Yijiao
Parent(s)
Zhang Bingjun Zhang Xiaoyou
Family
Zhang Weimou Zhang Qimou
Awards
BAFTA Best Film Not in the English Language 1991 Raise the Red Lantern 1994 To Live Golden Bear - Berlin International Film Festival 1988 Red Sorghum Silver Lion - Venice Film Festival 1991 Raise the Red Lantern Golden Lion - Venice Film Festival 1992 The Story of Qiu Ju 1999 Not One Less Grand Jury Prize - Cannes Film Festival 1994 To Live BSFC Award for Best Director 2004 House of Flying Daggers NSFC Award for Best Director 2004 Hero; House of Flying Daggers Golden Rooster Awards – Best Director 1999 Not One Less 2000 The Road Home 2003 Hero Best Actor 1988 Old Well
Zhang Yimou
Zhang's name in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese
张艺谋
Traditional Chinese
張藝謀
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin
Zhāng Yìmóu
IPA
[ʈʂáŋ î.mǒʊ]
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping
Zoeng1 Ngai6-mau4
IPA
[tsœːŋ˥ ŋɐi˨.mɐu˩]
Zhang Yimou (Chinese: 张艺谋; pinyin: Zhāngyìmóu; born 14 November 1951)[1][2] is a Chinese filmmaker.[3][4][5] Considered a key figure of China's Fifth Generation filmmakers, he made his directorial debut in 1988 with Red Sorghum, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.[6]
Zhang has won numerous awards and recognitions, with three Academy Awards nominations for Best Foreign Language Film for Ju Dou in 1990, Raise the Red Lantern in 1991, and Hero in 2003; a Silver Lion, two Golden Lion prizes and the Glory to the Filmmaker Award at the Venice Film Festival; Grand Jury Prize, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and Technical Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival; the Golden Bear, the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Berlin International Film Festival.[7] In 1993, he was a member of the jury at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival.[8] Zhang directed the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games as well as the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, which received considerable international acclaim.
One of Zhang's recurrent themes is the resilience of Chinese people in the face of hardship and adversity, a theme which has been explored in such films as To Live (1994) and Not One Less (1999). His films are particularly noted for their rich use of colour, as can be seen in some of his early films, like Raise the Red Lantern, and in his wuxia films like Hero and House of Flying Daggers. His highest-budgeted film to date is the 2016 monster film The Great Wall, set in Imperial China and starring Matt Damon. In 2010, Zhang received an honorary doctorate from Yale,[9] and in 2018, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Boston University.[10] In 2022, he joined the Beijing Film Academy as a distinguished professor.[11]
^Farquhar, Mary (May 2002). "Zhang Yimou". Senses of Cinema. Archived from the original on 13 October 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
^Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" in Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers. Routledge Publishing, p. 412. ISBN 0-415-18974-8. Google Book Search. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
^Mei Gui (玫瑰) (2022). 张艺谋：人过古稀 [Zhang Yimou: a man over seventy years old]. Culture and History Vision (in Chinese). 626. Yuhua District, Changsha, Hunan: Integrated Media Center of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference: 64–67. ISSN 1672-8653.
^Zhou Xiaofan (周小烦) (2022). 张艺谋：双奥导演返璞归真 [Zhang Yimou: director of the Olympics returning to nature]. Youth Digest (in Chinese). 361. Beijing: China Youth Press: 10–11. ISSN 1673-4955.
^"Zhang Yimou Bio". tribute.ca. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
^"Berlinale: 1993 Juries". berlinale.de. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
^"Citations for Recipients of Honorary Degrees at Yale University 2010". YaleNews. 2010-05-24. Retrieved 2023-06-22. A genius with camera and choreography... From film to opera to live performance, your artistry amazes and entertains... We are delighted to bestow on you this degree of Doctor of Fine Arts.
^"Filmmaker Zhang Yimou to Receive Honorary Degree". Boston University. 2018-05-11. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
^"张艺谋出任北京电影学院特聘教授" [Zhang Yimou Appointed as Distinguished Professor of Beijing Film Academy].
ZhangYimou (Chinese: 张艺谋; pinyin: Zhāngyìmóu; born 14 November 1951) is a Chinese filmmaker. Considered a key figure of China's Fifth Generation filmmakers...
breakout role in ZhangYimou's The Road Home (1999), which won her the Best Actress Award at the 2000 Hundred Flowers Awards, Zhang gained international...
the Academy, she was spotted by director ZhangYimou and debuted in Zhang's Red Sorghum in 1987. Gong and Zhang's professional and personal relationship...
signed a contract with ZhangYimou Studio. In May 2016, she passed three rounds of auditions and was cast as a heroine in Zhang's 2020 movie One Second...
from ten sides') is a 2004 wuxia romance film directed by ZhangYimou and starring Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi and Takeshi Kaneshiro. Unlike other wuxia films, it...
Zhang Yixing (Chinese: 张艺兴; pinyin: Zhāng Yìxīng; born (1991-10-07)October 7, 1991), known professionally as Lay Zhang or simply Lay, is a Chinese rapper...
Article 20 (Chinese: 第二十条) is a 2024 Chinese comedy drama film directed by ZhangYimou, and stars Lei Jiayin, Ma Li, Zhao Liying and Gao Ye. The film tells...
turned down an offer to appear in the film The Flowers of War by director ZhangYimou. She attended Tsinghua University. While studying abroad at Barnard College...
周冬雨) is a Chinese actress, who gained recognition after appearing in ZhangYimou's film Under the Hawthorn Tree. She was also chosen by Southern Metropolis...
2023 period comedy thriller film directed by ZhangYimou, and stars Shen Teng and Jackson Yee, alongside Zhang Yi, Lei Jiayin and Yue Yunpeng. It was released...
videos are rarely the subject of critical review; however, director ZhangYimou said that Chou's directing abilities may surpass his own in the future...
for portraying Yu Mo in the 2011 film The Flowers of War, directed by ZhangYimou; and Ling Xi in the 2019 television series Love and Destiny. She is considered...
star in many critically acclaimed films, most notably as the lead in ZhangYimou's Hero (2002), Fist of Legend (1994), the first three films in the Once...
Not One Less is a 1999 drama film by Chinese director ZhangYimou, adapted from Shi Xiangsheng's 1997 story A Sun in the Sky (Chinese: 天上有个太阳; pinyin:...
January 2023, Jackson Yee starred in the film Full River Red, directed by ZhangYimou. The film gained a box office of 4.5 billion RMB, becoming the one of...
through starring in a movie directed by ZhangYimou. In the early ZhangYimou movies, the actresses Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi attracted attention when they made...
directorial debut for Chen Kaige. The film's notable cinematography is by ZhangYimou. At the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony on 27 March 2005, a list...
Chinese-Hong Kong historical drama war film directed by ZhangYimou, starring Christian Bale, Ni Ni, Zhang Xinyi, Tong Dawei, Atsuro Watabe, Shigeo Kobayashi...
(Chinese: 坚如磐石) is a 2023 Chinese crime drama film directed by ZhangYimou, and stars Lei Jiayin, Zhang Guoli, Yu Hewei and Zhou Dongyu. It was released in theaters...
Ju Dou (Chinese: 菊豆; pinyin: Jú Dòu) is a 1990 film directed by ZhangYimou and Yang Fengliang, starring Gong Li as the title character. The film, based...
In 2002, Li was filming the movie Hero and insisted to the director (ZhangYimou) that he wanted Yen to play the role of Sky, his adversary, due to Yen's...
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