Born in 1972, Xiao Jiang was an active member of her college drama society. Though she didn’t know a lot about filmmaking, she decided to pursue her graduate studies in film directing at the Beijing Film Academy. There she studied many European classics, though it was her tutor, Prof. Jiang Shixiog, who influenced her filmmaking, and impressed upon her the importance of the Chinese audience when she makes her films. As 2005 is the 100th anniversary of Chinese filmmaking, she considers Electric Shadows to be her gift to the Chinese filmmaking industry.

Liu Hao was born in Shanghai in 1969, is a graduate of the director’s program of the Beijing Film Academy, and at one time worked as a reporter in Shanghai. His first film, [Chen Mo and Meiting] (2002) won the PREMIERE First Movie Award Special Mention of the Berlin International Film Festival, and went on to critical success in much of Europe. [Two Great Sheep], which he also wrote, is his second feature film.

Fenyang native and Golden Lion-winner Jia Zhangke studied at the Beijing Film Academy.

Shanghai native Wang Xiaoshuai is a Beijing Film Academy graduate. Despite early acclaim, his debut feature, [The Days](1993) was banned in China and forced Wang to use a pseudonym for his next film. His credits include [Frozen] (1995), [So Close to Paradise] (1999), [Silver Bear-winner Beijing Bicycle] (2001), [Shanghai Dreams] (2005), [In Love We Trust] (2007), and [Chongqing Blues] (2010).