Ye Lou

Ye Lou was born (in 1965) and grew up in Shanghai, a city he would film beautifully in his Suzhou he (2000) (Suzhou River). After studying cinema at the Beijing Film Academy, the gifted young man debuted in the film career as an assistant director, a producer and a short subjects director. His second feature Zhou mo qing ren (1993) (Weekend Lover) was both a public and critical success, crowned by the Fassbinder Prize. In 1997, he accepted to produce "Super City", a TV series for which he hired ten of the most promising names of the sixth-generation-directors. Three years later, he came to international prominence with Suzhou he (2000) (Suzhou River), an ambitious artistic meditation on love and the status of woman in the rapidly changing Chinese society as well as a moving ode to his home town Shanghai.