Hu Mei (born 2 September 1958) is a Chinese
film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...
,
television director and
producer
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
. Usually classed as a Fifth Generation director, since she graduated from the Directors' class of the 1982
Beijing Film Academy cohort, she is a classmate of famous Fifth Generation directors such as
Chen Kaige
Chen Kaige (; born 12 August 1952) is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema.Berry, Michael (2002). "Chen Kaige: Historical Revolution and Cinematic Rebellion" in Speaking in Images: Interviews wit ...
and
Tian Zhuangzhuang
Tian Zhuangzhuang (; born April 1952 in Beijing) is a Chinese film director, producer and actor.
Tian was born to an influential actor and actress in China. Following a short stint in the military, Tian began his artistic career first as an ama ...
.
In 1997, she directed the historical television series ''
Yongzheng Dynasty'', which received critical acclaim in mainland China. She has since directed a number of television series, including ''
The Emperor in Han Dynasty'' (2005), ''
Qiao's Grand Courtyard'' (2006), and ''
Cao Cao
Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...
'' (2014).
In 2007, she was originally selected to direct
a television series adaptation of the Chinese classical novel ''
A Dream of the Red Chamber'' but withdrew from the job (she was replaced by
Li Shaohong). Her 2010 film ''
Confucius
Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...
'', starring
Chow Yun-fat as the eponymous character, was released in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
on 14 January 2010.
Life
Hu was an actress in the Modern Drama Troupe of the General Political Division of the
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
. Her father was a conductor and mother was a singer. Hu was trained to play the piano from a very young age.
When the
Beijing Film Academy reopened in 1978, she enrolled for the directing class under her father's encouragement.
After graduation in 1982, she was assigned to the
Bayi Film Studio
August First Film Studio, or Bayi Film Studio ( Chinese: 八一电影制片厂; pinyin: ''Bāyī diànyǐng zhì piàn chǎng)'', is the only military film studio in China. It was founded on August 1, 1952 to film It is a comprehensive film stud ...
. In 1984, she made her first film ''Women's Chamber'' (女儿楼, ''Nü'er Lou''). Two years later, her film ''Times Away from War'' (远离战争的年代, ''Yuanli Zhanzheng de Niandai''), which is said to be the first Chinese psychological film, won her a number of international awards.
Hu nearly went to France to pursue a Ph.D. in film, but abandoned the idea at the last minute. She spent nearly ten years shooting television commercials. She also started directing more commercialized films. ''Yongzheng Dynasty'' was her first major successful television series. Since then, she is considered a top-tiered television series director in China.
In 2019, Hu won the Best Director award for ''Enter The Forbidden City'' at the
Chinese American Film Festival in Los Angeles.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hu, Mei
1958 births
Living people
Beijing Film Academy alumni
Film directors from Beijing
Chinese women film directors