Zhang Yimou (born November 14, 1950 or 1951)  is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum. Zhang has won numerous awards and recognitions, with Best Foreign Film nominations for Ju Dou in 1990 and Raise the Red Lantern in 1991, Silver Lion and Golden Lion prizes at the Venice Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. 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, for example, 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.

Filmography

• 2026Scare Out — Director, Writer
• The Lead — Executive Producer, Creator
• 2024Article 20 — Writer, Director
• The First Shot — Producer
• 2023Beijing 2022 — Executive Producer
• 2023Full River Red — Director, Screenplay
• 2023Under the Light — Director
• 2022Beijing 2022 Olympic Opening Ceremony — Director
• 2022Beijing 2022 Olympics Closing Ceremony — Director
• 2022Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics Opening Ceremony — Director
• 2022Snipers — Director
• 2021Cliff Walkers — Director, Screenplay
• 2021My Country, My Parents — TV Station Director (segment "Duck Prophet")
• 极：《悬崖之上》电影纪录片
• 2020My People, My Homeland — Producer
• 2020One Second — Director, Screenplay
• 2019庆祝中华人民共和国成立70周年联欢活动 — Director
• 2018Shadow — Director, Screenplay
• 2016Suddenly Seventeen — Producer
• 2016The Great Wall — Director
• Thirteen Talks
• 2016最忆是杭州 — Director
• 2015Lady of the Dynasty — Co-Director
• 2014Coming Home — Director
• 2014Stories Through 180 Lenses — Director
• Making of "The Flowers of War"
• 2011The Flowers of War — Director
• 2010Under the Hawthorn Tree — Director
• 200960th Anniversary Of Founding Of The People's Republic Of China — Director
• 2009A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop — Director
• Zhang Yimou's 2008
• 2008Beijing 2008 Olympic Closing Ceremony — Director
• 2008Beijing 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremony — Director
• 激荡·1978-2008
• 2007To Each His Own Cinema — Director, Writer
• 2006Curse of the Golden Flower — Director, Screenplay
• 2005Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles — Director
• 2005Turandot — Director
• 2005图兰朵：法兰西体育场 — Director
• 2004Beauty and Pureness
• 2004House of Flying Daggers — Director, Producer, Writer
• 2004Making of House of Flying Daggers — Self, Writer, Producer
• 2002Hero — Director, Producer, Writer
• The Grand Mansion Gate — 李莲英
• 2000Happy Times — Director
• 1999Not One Less — Director
• 1999Puccini: Turandot at the Forbidden City of Beijing — Director
• 1999The Road Home — Director
• 1999知识改变命运
• 1997Dragon Town Story — Producer
• 1997Keep Cool — Junk Peddler, Director
• 1995Lumière & Company — Self, Director
• 1995Shanghai Triad — Director
• 1994The Great Conqueror's Concubine: Part I — Producer
• 1994To Live — Director
• 1992The Story of Qiu Ju — Director
• 1991Raise the Red Lantern — Director
• 1990Ju Dou — Director
• 1989A Terra-Cotta Warrior — General Meng Tianfang
• Celebrity Talk Show — 张艺谋
• 1989Codename Cougar — Director
• 1989New Chinese Cinema
• 1988Red Sorghum — Director
• 1986Old Well — 孙旺泉, Director of Photography
• 1986The Big Parade — Military Official, Director of Photography
• 1984Forced Take-off — Cinematography
• 1984Yellow Earth — Director of Photography
• CMG Spring Festival Gala
• 1983One And Eight — Director of Photography
• 1982The Red Elephant — Director of Photography
• Cliff Walkers 2 — Director
• Sunshine Thief — Executive Producer
• The Three-Body Problem — Director

Appearances as themselves (13)

• Behind the Opening Ceremony: The Director's Cut — Self
• 2020A Documentary About The Movie One Second — Himself
• 2018Bergman: A Year in a Life — Self
• The 40th Anniversary of Chinese Film Since China's Reform and Opening-Up — Self
• 2018Zhang Yimou's "Shadow" — Self
• 2017Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang — Self
• 2013Trespassing Bergman — Self
• 奥运档案 — Self
• 2007Secrets Within: Inside Look at 'Curse of the Golden Flower' — Self
• 2004'Hero' Defined: A Look at the Epic Masterpiece — Self
• 2002Cause: The Birth of Hero — Himself
• 1994Big Fish in China — Self
• Golden Horse Awards — Self