Chinese movie director and sometime
actor, considered part of the "
Fifth Generation Filmmakers" group. He was born 14 November
1951 in Xi'an, Shaanxi province,
China. His first film was
1987's
Red Sorghum, with
actress Li Gong (
Gong Li in some English-language credits), who met in
Beijing's drama school and who has appeared in several of his films. His work has been
controversial and some films have had problems being shown in China because they contain
sexual material or portraying parts of China's
history in a bleak light.