CHINA
Xu Jinglei
Actress, screenwriter, director

December 2004

Few young women can boast the accomplishments of the multi-talented Xu Jinglei. Only 30, Xu is already an award-winning actress, screenwriter and director. Xu, who graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in 1996, has since starred in well over a dozen films, including Spring Subway, I Love You, Last Love, First Love and Far from Home, as well as numerous television serials. She made her directorial debut with her 2002 release My Father and I, which won her China¡¯s Golden Rooster award for best first-time director. In 2004, she won the Best Director award at the prestigious San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain for her adaptation of Austrian writer Stefan Zweig¡¯s novel Letter from an Unknown Woman. ¡ª KK