Bi Gan (, born 4 June 1989) is a Chinese film director, screenwriter, poet, and photographer.
Bi's feature directorial debut, Kaili Blues (2015), earned him Best New Director at the 52nd Golden Horse Awards, Best Emerging Director at the 68th Locarno Film Festival, and the Montgolfière d’Or at the 37th Three Continents Festival in Nantes. His follow-up feature, Long Day's Journey into Night (2018), was selected for the Un Certain Regard section at the 71st Festival de Cannes and earned him a Best Director nomination at the 55th Golden Horse Awards. His third feature film, Resurrection (2025), premiered in Competition at the 78th Festival de Cannes and was presented with a Special Award by the jury.
In June 2025, Bi was invited to join the Directors Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Biography Bi was born in Kaili City in Guizhou Province on 4 June 1989. He is an ethnic Miao.
From 2008 to 2011, Bi Gan studied television directing at the Radio, Film, and Television Cadre College in Taiyuan, Shanxi. In 2013, the college was renamed the Communication University of Shanxi.
During his college years, Bi watched Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker, later stating in an interview, "Cinema can be different [from mainstream films]; you can make what you like. What I had seen up to that point were mainly Hollywood films. What I was taught was pretty boring." Because of this particular film, he made up his mind to pursue filmmaking. "Before that, my parents and my relatives thought I would become jobless after graduation since I didn't want to do anything."
Filmmaking career In 2010, Bi made the short fiction film South, which won the first prize at the university-sponsored "Guang Sui Ying Dong" (Light Follows the Motion of Shadow) Film Festival.
Two years later in 2012, Bi made a black-and-white short film Diamond Sutra (; also known as The Poet and Singer), which features a story of murder in a small isolated town in the mountain. The film received Special Mention Award from the 19th Hong Kong ifva (Incubator for Film and Visual media in Asia), an award organized by Hong Kong Arts Centre, and was ranked top 10 at the 9th China Independent Film Festival in Nanjing, China.
In 2015, Bi's debut feature film, Kaili Blues, which he also wrote, brought the emerging director international recognition. The film won Best New Director and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 52nd Golden Horse Awards, Best Emerging Director at the 68th Locarno Film Festival, and the Montgolfière d'Or at the 37th Three Continents Festival in Nantes.
In 2018, Bi wrote and directed his second feature film, Long Day's Journey into Night, starring Tang Wei, Huang Jue, Sylvia Chang, and Lee Hong-chi. Set once again in Guizhou Province, the film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 71st Festival de Cannes. It received five nominations at the 55th Golden Horse Awards, including Best Feature Film and Best Director for Bi, and went on to win three: Best Cinematography, Best Sound Effects, and Best Original Film Score.
Filmography
Feature film Year English title Original title Notes 2011 Tiger 老虎 2015 Kaili Blues 路边野餐 2018 Long Day's Journey into Night 地球最后的夜晚 2025 Resurrection 狂野时代
Short film Year English title Original title Notes 2010 South 南方 2012 The Poet and Singer 金刚经 2016 Secret Goldfish 秘密金鱼 2022 A Short Story 破碎太阳之心
Awards and nominations Association Year Category Work Result Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2016 Achievement in Directing Kaili Blues Special Mention: Young Cinema Award Cannes Film Festival 2018 Un Certain Regard Long Day's Journey into Night 2022 Short Film Palme d'Or A Short Story 2025 Palme d'Or Resurrection Special Award (Prix Spécial) China Film Director's Guild Awards 2016 Young Director of the Year Kaili Blues Golden Horse Awards 2015 Best New Director Kaili Blues FIPRESCI Prize Asian Cinema Observer Recommendation Award NETPAC Award 2018 Best Director Long Day's Journey into Night Locarno Film Festival 2015 Best Emerging Director Kaili Blues Best First Feature – Special Mention Nantes Three Continents Festival 2015 Montgolfière d’Or Kaili Blues Philadelphia Film Festival 2022 Honorable Mention for Best Director A Short Story TOKYO FILMeX 2018 Student Jury Prize Long Day's Journey into Night
Honours
2026: In October 2026, Bi Gan served as a member of the Competition Jury at the 31st Busan International Film Festival.
References
External links