Lou Ye
Lou Ye (pinyin: Lóu Yè; Wade–Giles: Lou Yeh), born 1965, is a Chinese filmmaker. A leading figure of China's Sixth Generation of directors, Lou is known for his art-house vérité films about modern China, which often run afoul of Chinese censors. In June 2018, Lou became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Also recorded as Ye Lou
Lou Ye

udntv Art 《藝想世界》 · YouTube: https– View/save archived versions on archive.org · CC BY 3.0
- Born
- 1965. · Shanghai.
- Nationality
- People's Republic of China.
- Occupation
- film director, screenwriter, film producer and actor.
- Movements
- sixth generation Chinese cinema.
- Education
- Beijing Film Academy.
- Known for
- Suzhou River and Summer Palace.
- Honours
- China Film Director's Guild Award for Best Director.
- Languages
- Standard Chinese.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Lou Ye (pinyin: Lóu Yè; Wade–Giles: Lou Yeh), born 1965, is a Chinese filmmaker. A leading figure of China's Sixth Generation of directors, Lou is known for his art-house vérité films about modern China, which often run afoul of Chinese censors. In June 2018, Lou became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
wikipedia incomplete · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
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- Admitted assertions
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Authority files
bnf · getty · gnd · loc · wikidata · Q423313 · wikipedia · Lou Ye
In this article
Career
Career
Lou Ye studied at Beijing Film Academy. The recorded working language is Standard Chinese. Places of work recorded in the authority are People's Republic of China. Works named in the authority record are Suzhou River and Summer Palace. Distinctions recorded are China Film Director's Guild Award for Best Director.
Born in Shanghai, Lou was educated at the Beijing Film Academy. In 1993, he made his first film Weekend Lover, but it was not released until two years later, having its world premiere at the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg where it received the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Award. Between completion and premiere of Weekend Lover he made and released Don't Be Young, a thriller about a girl who takes her nightmares as real, in 1994. Lou, however, did not gain international prominence until his third film, the neo-noir Suzhou River. That film dealt with questions of identity and proved quite controversial upon its release in China. Upon its release, international audiences praised Suzhou River, which several critics felt evoked Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, particularly in how both films focus on a man obsessed with a mysterious woman. Lou—along with actress Nai An—founded the independent production company Dream Factory in 1998, which would go on to produce most of Lou's films. In 2003 Lou released Purple Butterfly starring Zhang Ziyi. The film is a tale of revenge and betrayal taking place during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, with a complex narrative structure borrowing heavily from film noir traditions. Lou's next film, Summer Palace (2006), a story of two lovers in the backdrop of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, again brought Lou into conflict with Chinese authorities, resulting in a five-year ban for both him and his producer. In order to circumvent the ban, his next film, Spring Fever, was shot surreptitiously in Nanjing and registered as a Hong Kong-French coproduction to avoid censors. The film was shown in competition at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival where writer Mei Feng won the Best Screenplay Award.
Censorship in China
Censorship in China
Lou Ye's films have proven controversial in their content, and often deal with issues of sexuality, gender, and obsession. Government censors banned his first film Weekend Lover for two years, while his breakout film Suzhou River was banned (with Lou receiving a 2-year ban from filmmaking) but has since been authorized in China. Later, after Lou submitted Summer Palace to the 2006 Cannes Film Festival without approval from Chinese censors, he was banned from film-making again, this time for five years. The film itself was also banned, though according to Lou this was because it was not up to the SARFT's standards for picture and sound quality. Lou also had to re-edit his film The Shadow Play for two years before he was granted a distribution license in mainland China. The film's plot centers on the investigation of a corruption scandal, inspired by real events in Xiancun. It also touches upon the issue of forced evictions of urban villages in Guangzhou during China's reform and opening up. His 2024 film portraying pandemic lockdowns, called "An Unfinished Film", was released abroad and is unavailable in China.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1965
Lou Ye was born on 1 January 1965.
Primary material
Documents and archives
institutional register
- Bibliothèque nationale de France authority file 150871265
Unverified · Bibliothèque nationale de France
- GND (German National Library) authority file 130210838
Unverified · GND (German National Library)
- IdRef (French universities) authority file 076451380
Unverified · IdRef (French universities)
- ISNI authority file 0000000114931680
Unverified · ISNI
- Library of Congress authority file no2007119297
Unverified · Library of Congress
- Union List of Artist Names authority file 500334070
Unverified · Union List of Artist Names
reference work
- “Lou Ye”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Valens, Grégory. Purple Butterfly. FilmFestivals.com. 2003.
- 2.Hu, Brian. Above Ground and Over His Head. Asia Pacific Arts. 2005-02-03.
- 3.The Daily Telegraph Staff. In the Realm of Censors. The Daily Telegraph. 2006-02-28.
- 4.ACADEMY INVITES 928 TO MEMBERSHIP. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2018-06-25.
- 5.Scott, A.O. Film Festival Review; A Chill Scene for Shadowy Characters. The New York Times. 2000-03-25.
- 6.Think Global, Act Local. The Village Voice. 2000-03-20.
- 7.Lu, Hongwei. Shanghai and Globalization through the Lens of Film Noir: Lou Ye's 2000 Film, Suzhou River. ASIANetwork Exchange: A Journal for Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts. 18. 1. 116. 2010-10-01. 1943-9946.
- 8.Announcing The Jury Members Of The 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Sundance Institute. 2017-01-11.
- 9.Pedroletti, Brice. Mystery (Fucheng mishi) - review. The Guardian. 2012-11-20. 0261-3077.
- 10.McCarthy, Todd. Cannes taps heavy hitters. Variety. 2009-04-16.
- 11.《苏州河》资料—中国—电影—优酷网,视频高清在线观看—又名:《Suzhou River》.
- 12.Variety Staff. China gives 'Palace' pair 5-year bans. Variety. 2006-09-04.
- 13.Jones, Arthur. 'Banned filmmaker' is a relative term. Variety. 2007-02-08.
- 14.娄烨这部新片告诉你艺术片发行有多难 《风雨云》首周破5100万 临上映仍在修改. Mtime. 2019-04-08.
- 15.Li, Huihui. 娄烨纪录片,道出中国电影制作的普遍现实. Phoenix New Media. Post Wave Film. 2023-08-23.
- 16.Harper's Bazaar China. 娄烨 一件事如果没有被记录,就没有发生. 2019-06-26.
- 17.娄烨电影《风中有朵雨做的云》过审 将如期上映. Lianhe Zaobao. 2019-04-01.
- 18.Wang, Vivian. China's 'King of Banned Films' Wants to Change the Subject. The New York Times. 2026-02-20.
- 19.Rosser, Michael. Lou Ye's Cannes title 'An Unfinished Film' heads to Coproduction Office, lands first sales. Screen Daily. 2024-04-23.
- 20.An Unfinished Film: Lou Ye tells the story of a doomed film project. Festival de Cannes. 2024-05-16.
- 21.Napolitano, Dean. 'Mystery' Named Best Film at Asian Film Awards. The Wall Street Journal. March 18, 2013.
- 22.Frater, Patrick. Asian Film Awards Nominations Headed by Ann Hui’s ‘Golden Era’. Variety. 2015-02-25.
- 23.Coonan, Clifford. China’s Film Industry Celebrates Berlinale Triumph. The Hollywood Reporter. 2014-02-17.
- 24.LOU Ye. Festival de Cannes.
- 25.2024 Competition. La Scam : Société civile des auteurs multimédia.
- 26.Coonan, Clifford. China Film Directors Guild Honors ‘Black Coal, Thin Ice’ With Three Awards. The Hollywood Reporter. 2015-04-12.
- 27.Le palmarès. Le Parisien. 2000-04-05.
- 28.González, David. Vitalina Varela shines bright at the Gijón Film Festival. Cineuropa. 2019-11-25.
- 29.2012年第49屆金馬獎入圍名單出爐 《浮城謎事》為最大入圍贏家. GQ Taiwan. 2012-10-02.
- 30.2014第51屆金馬獎完整入圍名單. Vogue Taiwan. 2014-10-24.
- 31.拍吧,不然就忘了──獨家專訪《風中有朵雨做的雲》導演婁燁 - 報導者 The Reporter. The Reporter.
- 32.Wong, Silvia. ‘An Unfinished Film’, ‘Bel Ami’ among top winners at Golden Horse Awards. Screen International. 24 November 2024.
- 33.1996 45th International Film Festival Mannheim Heidelberg. Internationales Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg.
- 34.Romney, Jonathan. Fresh talent picks up Tigers at Rotterdam. Screen International. 7 February 2000.
- 35.Osaki, Tad. Tokyo Filmex taps ‘Suzhou’. Variety. 2000-12-27.
- 36.フィルメックス授賞式. The Asahi Shimbun. 2024-12-01.
- 37.Hopewell, John. China’s ban hasn’t stopped director Lou Ye working. Variety. 2011-08-31.
- 38.Lan xin da ju yuan (Saturday Fiction). La Biennale di Venezia.
- 39.38th Viennale – Vienna International Film Festival. FIPRESCI.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
institutional register
Bibliothèque nationale de France authority file 150871265Bibliothèque nationale de France
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
GND (German National Library) authority file 130210838GND (German National Library)
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
IdRef (French universities) authority file 076451380IdRef (French universities)
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
Library of Congress authority file no2007119297Library of Congress
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
Union List of Artist Names authority file 500334070Union List of Artist Names
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
Every cited source · 9
- 01
Bibliothèque nationale de France authority file 150871265
institutional register · Unverified · Bibliothèque nationale de France
Consult the source - 02
GND (German National Library) authority file 130210838
institutional register · Unverified · GND (German National Library)
Consult the source - 03
IdRef (French universities) authority file 076451380
institutional register · Unverified · IdRef (French universities)
Consult the source - 04
- 05
Library of Congress authority file no2007119297
institutional register · Unverified · Library of Congress
Consult the source - 06
Union List of Artist Names authority file 500334070
institutional register · Unverified · Union List of Artist Names
Consult the source - 07
- 08
“Lou Ye”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
reference work · Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Consult the source - 09
Wikidata, structured authority record Q423313: Lou Ye
institutional register · Unverified · Wikimedia Foundation
Consult the source
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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