Gu Changwei

Gu Changwei (born 12 December 1957) is a Chinese cinematographer and film director. Gu was born in Xi'an, Shaanxi in the People's Republic of China. Gu is considered one of the major Chinese cinematographers working today.^[1]

Gu Changwei
Born	(1957-12-12) 12 December 1957 (age 66) Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
Occupation(s)	Cinematographer, film director
Years active	1980s-present
Spouse	Jiang Wenli
Awards	Silver Berlin Bear-Jury Grand Prix 2005 Peacock Silver Frog 1993 Farewell My ConcubineGolden Horse Awards – Best Cinematography 1994 In the Heat of the Sun Golden Rooster Awards – Best Cinematography 1988 King of the Children & Red Sorghum
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	顧長衛
Simplified Chinese	顾长卫
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Gù Chángwèi

Career

Gu Changwei began his cinematic career in the now legendary 1982 class of the Beijing Film Academy, today known as the Fifth Generation. Trained as a cinematographer, Gu was assigned to the Xi'an Film Studio after graduation where he served as a primary collaborator with classmates Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou on their early films, notably King of the Children (for Chen Kaige) and Red Sorghum (for Zhang Yimou), both in 1987.^[1] Since then, Gu has worked with both men on multiple occasions, including on Chen's magnum opus, 1993's Farewell My Concubine. Like fellow cinematographer Zhao Fei, Gu has had the opportunity to work with major American directors as well, with Tony Drazan, in his filmed adaptation of Hurlyburly and most notably with Robert Altman, on his film The Gingerbread Man (1997).

Directing

Beginning in 2005, Gu Changwei branched out into film direction with his debut Peacock, a three-hour-long epic about a small family in the 1970s and 1980s. The film was well received and won the Jury Grand Prix-Silver Bear at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival.^[2] His sophomore feature, And the Spring Comes, was released in 2007.

Filmography

As cinematographer

Year	English Title	Chinese Title	Director	Notes
1987	Red Sorghum	红高粱	Zhang Yimou
	King of the Children	孩子王	Chen Kaige
1989	Codename Cougar	代号美洲豹	Zhang Yimou
1990	Ju Dou	菊豆
1991	Life on a String	边走边唱	Chen Kaige
1993	Farewell My Concubine	霸王别姬		Nominated- Academy Award for Best Cinematography
	The Trail	大路	Zhou Xiaowen
1994	In the Heat of the Sun	阳光灿烂的日子	Jiang Wen
1995	Warrior Lanling		Sherwood Hu
1997	The Gingerbread Man	NA	Robert Altman
1998	Last Chance Love		Ankie Lau
	Hurlyburly	NA	Anthony Drazan
2000	Devils on the Doorstep	鬼子来了	Jiang Wen
	Autumn in New York	NA	Joan Chen
2005	"Song Song and Little Cat"	NA	John Woo	Segment in All the Invisible Children

As film director

Year	English Title	Chinese Title	Notes
2005	Peacock	孔雀	Jury Grand Prix at the Berlin International Film Festival
2007	And the Spring Comes	立春	Best Actress award at the Rome Film Festival
2009	Never Abandon, Never Give Up		Short film for the International Labour Organization's ILOAIDS program
2011	Love for Life	最爱	-
2014	Love on the Cloud	微爱之渐入佳境

References

1. Zhang, Yingjin & Xiao, Zhiwei (1998). "Gu Changwei" in Encyclopedia of Chinese Film. Taylor & Francis, p. 181. ISBN 0-415-15168-6.
2. Meza, Ed (2005-02-21). "'Carmen' cops gold". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-31.

External links

• Gu Changwei at IMDb
• Gu Changwei at AllMovie
• Gu Changwei at the Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers
• New York Times