Xinyang Zhang
Born in 1995, Xinyang Zhang is a Chinese filmmaker, visual artist, poet and novelist.
He graduated from the Directing Department of Nanjing Communication University of China. Later, he was awarded a full scholarship for Jia Zhangke's "Next Talent Project", which led him to the Film Production Department at Shanghai Vancouver Film School.
His debut feature film PANDA (2026) premiered in the Forum section at the Berlinale.
First conceived in 2018, the film took eight years to complete. Before Berlinale, it had already received multiple industry awards, including the Jury’s Choice Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival, Best Proposal Award at HiShorts! Film Festival, Best Film Project Award at the Chongqing Youth Film Festival, and Best Screenplay Award at the Changjiang Youth Film Festival.
In 2024, his documentary feature PEKING RAM (in production) received a Special Recommendation in the Rough Cut category at the FIRST Documentary Lab 2024.
In 2020, his short film WINTER SLEEP won the First Prize in the Short Film Competition of Jia Zhangke Online Courses.
In 2018, his short film MY POEM received the Best Short Film Halo Award at the Beijing International Short Film Festival.
As director of photography, his short film SARIRA won the Special Mention for Best Short Film at the Busan International Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.
He is also the author of the poetry collection Islanders, which is forthcoming.