Huang Shuqin

Huang Shuqin (born 9 September 1939) is a Chinese film director best known for her film Woman, Demon, Human, which Dai Jinhua called "the only film in China that is made from a woman's perspective". The film is also considered the first feminist Chinese film. Born and raised in Shanghai, Huang is the daughter of Huang Zuolin, a well-known film and stage director. Although her film career didn't take off until she was well into her forties, she is regarded as one of China's most talented female directors. Some of her films, including Woman, Demon, Human, have won awards and/or recognition at various film festivals. She is also known for two mega-hit TV series, Fortress Besieged (1990, based on Qian Zhongshu's eponymous novel) and Sinful Debt (1995).

Huang Shuqin was born to film director Huang Zuolin in Shanghai, China in 1939. Walking in her father's footsteps, Huang aspired to become a film director. She enrolled in the Beijing Film Academy to study directing, graduating in 1964. She was assigned to work for Shanghai Film Studio as a script supervisor. However, not long afterwards, the Cultural Revolution took hold of China, controlling many aspects of life and effectively preventing many films from being made. The Huang family was not in the best of positions at this time and Huang Shuqin's mother died. Huang later attended a May Seventh Cadre School, which acted as a sort of labour camp, for five years, two of which were spent in a small room without contact from anyone as punishment for her possible involvement in the May 16th Notification in 1966. Huang even joined the Rebel Faction.

After the end of the Cultural Revolution, she assisted director Xie Jin on the films The Cradle (1979) and The Legend of Tianyun Mountain (1980). Her debut film, Contemporary People (also translated as The Modern Generation) garnered widespread attention through its critical acclaim. That attention would only continue to grow as she directed more films, the most famous of which is Woman, Demon, Human.

Woman, Demon, Human

Woman, Demon, Human is considered to be the first feminist film in China and is the first of Huang's films to garner international attention. The film tells the story of Qiu Yun, an opera actress who effectively plays male roles, particularly that of Zhong Kui, and her personal struggles over gender identity and conflict resolution within her family life. The film constantly portrays its protagonist, based on real-life actress Pei Yanling, as actively struggling with Chinese gender norms.

Prior to filming, Huang felt the need to personally visit Pei Yanling to study her life, even going so far as to follow her on tour with her travelling troupe to get a better idea of her day-to-day life. Huang does this before every film she makes, believing it to be necessary to observe and understand life before filming. Despite its feminist reputation, Huang states that she didn't direct Woman, Demon, Human with the intention of making a feminist film.

Woman, Demon, Human is critically acclaimed and has received awards nationally and internationally.

Films

Television shows