Wang Quan’an

b. 26 October 1965, Yan’an

Independent filmmaker

Wang Quan’an is a 1991 graduate of the Beijing Film Academy and emerged as an independentfilmmaker in 1999, after years of prolific script-writing in Xi’an. His debut film, Lunar Eclipse (Yueshi), received several prizes at national and international film festivals and established him as a stylist among the Sixth Generation (film directors). Lunar Eclipse tells of the chance encounter between a young engaged woman and an amateur photographer, who claims to have known a girl with an uncanny resemblance to her.

While she explores the life of her double, she comes to an understanding of her own anguish and of the process of her emotional development. The movie intertwines several stories and time frames, past and present, imagination and reality, but it is nevertheless constructed with ease. His second feature film, The Wakening of Insects (Jingzhe), depicts the psychology of a change in environment from the perspective of a rural girl coming to the city to establish a new life (see migration and settlement patterns).

Wang’s films represent a unique combination of elements of cinematic art with depictions of the depth of human feeling. The suspenseful and subtle spiritual element, the proficient and authentic dialogue, the unique subjective spectator’s viewpoint, the urban ambience, and the realistic lighting result in a carefully crafted style. Wang’s films tend more towards the mystical than the social, and as such have added ‘art film’ to the national allegories of the Fifth Generation (film directors) and the urban realism of the ‘Sixth’.

BIRGIT LINDER