He Qun (Chinese: 何群; 7 December 1955 – 31 December 2016) was a Chinese filmmaker. A graduate of the 1982 class of the Beijing Film Academy, he was an inaugural member of China's "Fifth Generation" movement.[1][2]
He Qun | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 7, 1955 |
| Died | December 31, 2016 (aged 61) |
| Alma mater | Beijing Film Academy |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, Art director |
| Years active | 1980s–2016 |
| Awards | Golden Rooster Awards – Best Film: 1994 Country Teachers |
Early life
He was born in 1955 in Nanjing, Jiangsu. Like many of his generation, his early life was thrown into turmoil by the Cultural Revolution. His father, an artist, was denounced as a rightist, and He was sent to the outskirts of Beijing where he did manual labor as a welder for six years.[1] In 1978, He was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy in its art department, and was assigned to the Guangxi Film Studio when he graduated in 1982.[1]
Career
He's early career was as an art director, where he worked on many important films of the early Fifth Generation movement, including The Big Parade (1986, directed by Chen Kaige) and Widow Village (1988, directed by Wang Jin).[1]
In 1988, he began his career in direction with the war film Mutiny. Since then, he has directed films of several genres, including gangster films (Westbound Convict Train, 1989), comedies (Once Conned, 1992) and mysteries (The Vanished Woman (1992). In 1993, He found critical success with his rural drama Country Teachers, which won the Golden Rooster Award for best picture.
Selected filmography
As art director
| Year | English Title | Chinese Title | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | One and Eight | 一个和八个 | Zhang Junzhao |
| 1986 | The Big Parade | 大阅兵 | Chen Kaige |
| 1988 | Widow Village | 寡妇村 | Wang Jin |
| 1990 | The Wedding Maidens | 出嫁女 | Wang Jin |
As director
| Year | English Title | Chinese Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Mutiny | 哗变 | |
| 1989 | Westbound Convict Train | 西行囚车 | Also known as Prison Car to the West |
| 1991 | Steel Meets Fire | 烈火金刚 | |
| 1992 | Once Conned | 上一当 | |
| 1992 | The Vanished Woman | 消失的女人 | Also known as The Woman Who Disappeared |
| 1993 | Country Teachers | 凤凰琴 | |
| 1996 | The Strangers in Beijing | 混在北京 |
As actor
| Year | English title | Chinese title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | The Grand Mansion Gate | 大宅门 | A worker in a pawnshop | [3][4] |