Born in Beijing in 1952, Chen Kaige is a leading figure of China's Fifth Generation, the first class to graduate from the Beijing Film Academy after the Cultural Revolution. As a teenager he was sent to work in Yunnan and served in the army, experiences that shaped his later films. Yellow Earth (1984), shot by Zhang Yimou, announced a new visual language for Chinese cinema. Farewell My Concubine (1993) shared the Palme d'Or at Cannes, the first Chinese film to win it. He has since made large-scale historical dramas and worked in both China and abroad.
Filmography
- Yellow Earth (1984)
- The Big Parade (1986) (1986)
- King of the Children (1987)
- Life on a String (1991)
- Farewell My Concubine (1993)
- Temptress Moon (1996)
- The Emperor and the Assassin (1998)
- Together (2002)
- Sacrifice (2010)