Lu Chuan
Lu Chuan is considered one of the most talented young directors in China. After receiving a Master’s degree in film studies from Beijing Film Academy in 1998, Lu Chuan started as a co-writer for Black Hole, which became one of most-watched TV series in China. His directional debut, Xun Qiang (2001), aka The Missing Gun, was presented at The 55th Cannes Film Festival in May, 2002, then the Venice in August and the Sundance at the end of the year.
Lu Chuan’s second feature, Ke Ke Xi Li, aka Mountain Patrol (2004), was praised by many critics around the world and moved tens of thousands of audiences from different places. It won numerous awards including Best Film and Special Jury Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival and Best picture and Best Cinematography at the 41st Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, China. Lu Chuan was then chosen as a juror at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
Lu Chuan had worked hard for 4 years on his third film, City of Life and Death since 2005. This film won him great international renown. “Cinema Without Borders” reviewed the film and wrote: “Lu Chuan’s a master at choreographing action sequences. Like Kurosawa or Scorcese, he manages to personalize characters in the midst of the most chaotic violence. Scenes of the brutal use of women during wartime have never been more graphic or revelatory than in this film. An indelible masterpiece of emotional and technical bravura that MUST be seen on the big screen, Lu Chuan’s existential portrait of complicity and heroism forged in the realm of unspeakable fear, draws the audience into the madness of war.“