Culture
21:28, 31-Oct-2017
Zhao Ting's 'The Rider' opens Crouching Tiger segment at PYIFF
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A very exciting part of the Pingyao International Film festival is its Crouching Tiger segment, which promotes young talent. Films in this category must be the first or second by their directors.
Zhao Ting's second directorial outing "The Rider" opened the Crouching Tiger segment in Pingyao. The film won the Art Cinema Award of the Director's Fortnight unit in Cannes this May.
Zhao says she was thrilled to get an invitation from Jia Zhangke, one of the founders of the festival, to take part in the Pingyao event.
A poster of "The Rider". /Handout Photo
A poster of "The Rider". /Handout Photo
The Beijing-born and raised director also goes by the English name Chloe. She earned her cinema degree at New York University, which lists the iconic Ang Lee as one of its alumni.
Her film "The Rider" follows a cowboy who stubbornly chases his dream even after tragedy.
She says her movies are mostly bankrolled by a company in the music video business. She's also received support from US-based Sundance Labs at certain points in her career. She's grateful for the opportunity to show off at Pingyao, an event that gives exposure to independent films over movies funded by the government or big studios.
Her cameraman, Joshua James Richards, is also her boyfriend. He says the festival could be China's answer to Sundance, a film festival that takes place annually in the US state of Utah.