Yang Fudong

Yang Fudong ( born 1971 in Beijing) Yang Fudong was born in Beijing, China, in 1971. He is considered one of China's most well-known cinematographer and photographer. He is considered one of the brightest young stars in China and the greatest film writer to come out of China ever. Yang first started training to be a painter in the China Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou. In the early 1990s, he began to work with film. He began creating films and videos using 35 mm film. Currently Yang directs films, creates photographs, and creates video installations. The root of these art works is having the power to move images to show thought and experience. When creating his narrative films, he portrays that anything is possible, including fantasies and dreams. Most of Yang's films are considered poetic because of the style and beauty of the work. Yang creates a strong, powerful film because it plays off the thoughts and experiences of everyday life. Yang is very respectful to the traditions of China, as well as Chinese art (which include films). There are different themes surrounding Yang's films, but they all have a purpose, theological or literal. He is considered one of the deepest cinematographers in the world because of the time and passions he puts into each of his works. Yang Fudong's most popular works include: Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forrest, The Fifth Night, the 17th Biennale of Sydney, East of Que Village, An Estranged Paradise, Backyard- Hey! Sun is Rising, and No Snow on the Broken Bridge. Yang continues to live and work on his films in Shanghai. As a successful filmmaker he is constantly traveling around, attending his premiers and other prestigious international art events. In 2007, Yang Fudong attended the 52nd Venice Biennale. Yang Fudong is leading the way for a new generation of art in the film industry. He single handedly brought Chinese film installations on multiple screens to the western world to be appreciated and supported. Yang Fudong's works are in depth and emotional. His work is beginning to be displayed worldwide as they are becoming more recognised. There are viewings of his movies in Europe, North America, and Asia. Yang Fudong does not show much interest in showing a strong political interest in his films, there are slight implications of his opinions but mostly he focuses on the interactions between different individuals. Being relatively young in age, Yang directs through the eyes of a man who does not know what he thinks or how he feels about China.

Yang graduated from China Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou in 1995.

East of Que Village is a six-channel film with black and white color. It shows a wild pack of dogs looking to scavenge in a small northern Chinese town on the outskirts of Beijing. This small rural town seems to bring up memories of Yang's own childhood and his hometown. The town is empty and basically evacuated. Yang Fudong is trying to show how contemporary China has moved away from its traditions and from a certain part of life. Yang shows the dogs struggling to find food until they turn against each other just for survival. There is a small group of people the dogs come across which immediately makes the viewer feel the humans must also be struggling to survive in the same way the dogs are. Yang Fudong shows a strong question of whether or not the contemporary movement in China is helping the country or making them weaker. He relates this film to his own personal life as well as his own experiences. It shows the isolation and emptiness every human feels at one point in their life. This film has a couple of messages in it but it does not overload the viewer. Yang Fudong gives one overall message to the audience to create an experience from which they can grow. The whole experience is important. There are six screens all playing at the same time with different film going on them. The whole viewing area is overwhelmed with the sounds of barking and the sounds of people (from the film). Yang Fudong captures the audience with his interesting work and his simply conveyed themes.

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