Huang Ji is an award-winning independent filmmaker based in Beijing. Born in 1984 in Hunan Province, she majored in screenwriting at the Beijing Film Academy, graduating in 2007. Huang made her name by focusing on China’s so-called “left-behind children” in her debut feature Egg and Stone (2012), which she made exclusively with non-professional actors in her hometown. Filmed with her cinematographer husband Ryuji Ozuka, the semi-autobiographical film won the Hivos Tiger Award for Best Feature Film at the 2012 Rotterdam International Film Festival. The Foolish Bird (2017), Huang’s second feature, premiered at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival (in the Generation 14Plus category).
Selected Filmography
| Role | Title (English) | Title | Year |
| Co-director | The Foolish Bird (Trailer) | 笨鳥 | 2017 |
| Co-director | Trace | 2013 | |
| Director | Egg and Stone (Trailer) | 雞蛋和石頭 | 2012 |
| Director | The Warmth of Orange Peel | 橘子皮的溫度 | 2009 |
| Co-director | Underground | 地下 | 2005 |
Articles
“The Female Gaze in Chinese Films.” Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation (2018): https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-female-gaze-in-chinese-films/fwJCH9GzCvrOKw
Zhang, Zhen. “Haptic Visuality and Tactile Resistance in Huang Ji’s Personal Cinema.” Video presentation at the online conference “Reassessing Chinese Independent Cinema: Past, Present… and Future?” (January 29&30, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3rHEe-NOQs&feature=youtu.be
Reviews
The Foolish Bird
Elley, Derek. “Review: The Foolish Bird (2017).” Sino-Cinema (February 16, 2017): https://sino-cinema.com/2017/02/16/review-the-foolish-bird-2017/
Kerr, Elizabeth. “‘The Foolish Bird’: Film Review — Filmart 2017.” The Hollywood Reporter (March 13, 2017): https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/foolish-bird-filmart-review-985479
Mendizabal, Adrian D. “The Foolish Bird (China, 2017).” V Cinema (February 13, 2019): http://www.vcinemashow.com/the-foolish-bird-china-2017/
Zaveri, Rhythm. “Film Review: ‘The Foolish Bird’ (2017) by Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka.” Asian Movie Pulse (January 18, 2019): https://asianmoviepulse.com/2019/01/film-review-the-foolish-bird-2017-by-huang-ji-and-ryuji-otsuka/
Egg and Stone
Bell, Robert. “Egg and Stone — Ji Huang.” Exclaim! (November 2, 2012): http://exclaim.ca/film/article/egg_stone-directed_by_ji_huang
Far East Film Festival entry (2016): https://www.fareastfilm.com/eng/archive/2016/egg-and-stone/?IDLYT=15535
Links
Egg and Stone entry on Icarus Films: http://icarusfilms.com/df-stone
Huang Ji’s IMDb entry: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4839369/
Women Filmmakers and Transnational China in the Twenty-First Century 