Zheng Junli

Zheng Junli (1911–1969) was a Chinese film director, screenwriter, and actor. His films include the social satire Crows and Sparrows and the historical drama The Life of Wu Xun.

Crows and Sparrows: A 1949 Chinese film directed by Zheng Junli, depicting residents of a Shanghai apartment building under Nationalist rule. Its satire of corruption and its 1949 release made it Zheng's defining film.
Cai Chusheng: A Chinese film director and screenwriter known for socially engaged films including The Goddess and Spring River Flows East. Cai co-directed Spring River Flows East with Zheng, sharing one of his defining projects.
Shanghai Theatre Academy: A Shanghai institution for theatre education, founded in 1945 as the Shanghai Municipal Experimental Theatre School. Zheng's theatrical training helped prepare him for acting and direction.
The Wu Xun campaign: A 1951 political campaign criticizing the historical educator Wu Xun and films that portrayed him positively. The campaign attacked Zheng's film and sharply constrained its public interpretation.
The Life of Wu Xun: A 1950 Chinese biographical film directed by Zheng Junli about the educator Wu Xun. The film's political condemnation became a major turning point in Zheng's career.
Wen Hua Shao: A Chinese film actress active from the 1930s through the 1950s, known for leading roles in socially engaged films. Shao starred in Zheng's Crows and Sparrows and The Life of Wu Xun.
Chinese spoken drama: A modern Chinese theatre tradition using spoken dialogue rather than classical operatic forms. Its acting conventions and social themes informed Zheng's movement between stage and screen.
Chinese film censorship: Governmental control over film production, distribution, and exhibition in China. The controversy around Zheng's work illustrates political scrutiny of film after 1949.
Spring River Flows East: A 1947 Chinese melodrama directed by Cai Chusheng and Zheng Junli, following a family through war and its aftermath. Zheng co-directed this landmark film, which broadened his reputation before his best-known solo works.
Zhao Dan: A Chinese actor whose career spanned Republican-era and post-1949 cinema. Zhao starred in Zheng's The Life of Wu Xun as its title character.

Linked from 1 page