Zhengfan Yang is a writer, director, producer, and visual artist. After graduating from law school, he started making films and, together with Shengze Zhu, co-founded BURN THE FILM. His debut feature DISTANT (2013, experimental narrative) premiered at Locarno and was screened at Warsaw Film Festival, Festival des 3 Continents in France, the Centers for Contemporary Art and Photography in Brazil, and the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, among others. His narrative short DOWN THERE (2018) premiered at Venice and received the Grand Prix George Lucas Award and the Best Asian Short Film Award at Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia in Japan. It was also screened at Busan International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Viennale, Hong Kong International Film Festival, among many others. Zhengfan’s documentaries, WHERE ARE YOU GOING (2016) and FOOTNOTE (2021), both premiered at International Film festival Rotterdam, and the former received the Jury Award at China Independent Film Festival and the Best Experimental Film Award at South Taiwan Film Festival. His latest film, STRANGER (2024, narrative), received the Grand Prize in the Proxima Competition at Karlovy Vary. In addition to his directorial work, Zhengfan has worked as producer for all of Shengze’s films.

Shengze Zhu is a filmmaker, producer, and artist. A 2024 Guggenheim fellow, she has received many accolades for her documentaries. Her debut feature OUT OF FOCUS (2014) premiered at Cinéma du Réel at Centre Pompidou in France. ANOTHER YEAR (2016) received the Grand Prize at Visions du Réel in Switzerland, the Grand Prize at RIDM Montreal, the Critics’ Award at Olhar de Cinema in Brazil, and has been shown at Yamagata, Jeonju, Art of the Real at Lincoln Center, among others. PRESENT.PERFECT. (2019) won a dozen awards including the esteemed Tiger Award at International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Spotlight Award at Cinema Eye Honors in the U.S., the Best Dox Award at Dokufest in Kosovo, and has screened at over 100 film festivals and venues worldwide including New Directors/New Films at Lincoln Center/MoMA, the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art London, and many more. Her latest documentary A RIVER RUNS, TURNS, ERASES, REPLACES (2021) received the Caligari Film Prize at Berlinale and has screened at New York Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Hot Docs, IDFA, among many others. Shengze is currently developing her first narrative feature A DISTANT HOUSE SMOKES ON THE HORIZON, with the support from Hubert Bals Fund and the Netherlands Film Fund. She has also worked as producer for all of Zhengfan’s films.