| Sheng Zhimin | |||||
| Birth Place: | Beijing, China | ||||
| Occupation: | Film director, Screenwriter, Line producer | ||||
| Awards: | NETPAC Award (Locarno) 2006 Bliss Shanghai New Talent Best Picture 2007 Bliss | ||||
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Sheng Zhimin (born 1969) is a Chinese filmmaker from Beijing. Unlike other directors to emerge in recent years, Sheng has had no formal training. He instead began his career as a line producer, screenwriter, and assistant director for other filmmakers like Jia Zhangke, Fruit Chan and Zhang Yang.[1] In these positions, Sheng worked on the films Spicy Love Soup, Durian Durian, Public Toilet, and Platform.[1]
Sheng's first, and so far only directorial effort was 2006's Bliss, a family drama set in the central Chinese city of Chongqing.
Bliss premiered at the 2006 Locarno International Film Festival where it won the NETPAC award,[2] and had its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.[3] It also screened at the 2007 Shanghai International Film Festival, where it picked up a best picture prize for the New Talent side-competition.[4]
Sheng lists Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull and Edward Yang's Yi Yi as important influences in his directorial style.[1] He also considers Jia Zhangke, Fruit Chan, and Yasujirō Ozu among his favorite filmmakers.[1]