Writer/director and cinematographer Miaoyan Zhang was born in Manchuria, and growing up during the Cultural Revolution, had little opportunity to see movies, something which changed when he completed a Masters of Fine Art at UC Berkley. Zhang is writer/director/cinematographer on three feature films, all of which have been selected for multiple international festivals, receiving numerous awards. His debut feature Xiaolin Xiaoli (2007) premiered in the Busan International Film Festival and second feature Black Blood (2011) premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam where it won the NETPAC Award. A Corner of Heaven (2014) premiered in Busan and was invited to Vancouver, Rotterdam, Goteborg, Geneva, among others. It was nominated for three APSAs including Best Youth Feature Film, Achievement in Cinematography and the UNESCO Award. Silent Mist (2018) was his latest film and was nominated once more for the APSA for Achievement in Cinematography, this time sharing a nomination with Xu Zhiyong.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
