Cinema is a loaded gun.

电影是一把装满子弹的枪。

Luo Jian {pronounced: LwOr-TSian} is a director and screenwriter born in the Uyghur Autonomous Region of China on the Gobi Desert, a place that claims to be the world’s furthest place from the sea. It is where Asia and Europe meet. It is the West of the East and the East of the West - just like her films.

Graduating with an MFA degree in Film Directing from NYU, her thesis film 'What Do You Know About the Water and the Moon' tells a magical realist story about a young woman giving birth to a jellyfish during an attempted abortion. It premiered at the 2019 Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival (grand prix nominee) and screened at over 40 cool places including the BFI London FF (best short nominee), Palm Springs International ShortFest (best live-action film), Stockholm International FF (Aluminum Horse), Pendance Film Festival (Jury Award), AFI Fest, before it launched the NOWNESS Asia platform in June 2020.

She is the recipient of the Ang Lee grant, the Hollywood Foreign Press Award, and the Artist in Residence program at Palm Springs International Film Festival. In between her directing work, Jian teaches filmmaking to elderly immigrants at senior centers in Flushing, New York.

Jian divides her time between New York, London and Beijing. 

“The story is simple, a young Chinese woman gives birth to a jellyfish during an abortion… it’s a short which carries itself with strong visual poetry, forming a beautiful concoction of longing and magical realism." DIRECTORS NOTES

For more Luo Jian, check her NEWS.

Filmography 作品年表

The Windless Mystica Season 3

documentary series, China 

Synopsis | Since Wa musician Yong’s death, his band stopped playing Wa music. Three years later, the band decided to take a pilgrimage back to Yong's hometown, reuniting with their lost partner in rivers, trees, dreams and the sound of Wa violin.

Naomang

documentary, China 

Synopsis | Tailor by day, chef by night… On the 32nd floor of a commercial compound in Beijing, there is a man who leaves behind his life as a tailor to run a midnight canteen. 

What Do You Know About the Water and the Moon

short film, China

Synopsis | A girl gives birth to a jellyfish during an attempted abortion.

Cheongsam

short film, USA 

Synopsis |As part of the mourning process, a widow purchases a cheongsam that her husband’s mistress used to wear.

Nobody Says I Love You

short film, USA

Synopsis | Three young Chinese women discover that none of them has ever said “I love you“ to their parents through a drinking game Never Have I Ever. Tonight, they decide to do it together.

Guqin

documentary, China 

Synopsis | Mr. Zhu, a Guqin Master devoted his whole life to teaching and promoting a Chinese ancient instrument in a confucius temple.

Grandma Gao

documentary, China 

Synopsis | Yaojie Gao (age91), a Chinese AIDS activist who has been honored for her work by the United Nations and had spent time under house arrest, eats soup alone in the apartment.