After graduating from the Beijing Film Academy, Wang Xiaoshuai wrote and directed his first feature THE DAYS (Dongchunde rizi/冬春的日子, 1993) when he was 27. Acclaimed at first, the film was soon after blacklisted, and its distribution was banned in China. The film depicted the last days of a deteriorating relationship between two artists in Beijing.

 

Two years later, he directed FROZEN (Jidu hanleng/极度寒冷, 1995) under the pseudonym Wu Ming (Without a name). The film was selected at many international festivals and was awarded Special Mention by the jury in Rotterdam in 1995. The film offers a look at the Beijing avant-garde world, where a young artist organized a set of performances culminating in his own suicide as the final act.

 

The same year, he directed A VIETNAMESE GIRL (Biandan guniang/扁担·姑娘) for the Beijing Film Studio. The film was refused by the censorship committee, and it took 3 years of re-editing and a new title (SO CLOSE TO PARADISE) to finally get approval for a (limited) screening in China. SO CLOSE TO PARADISE tells the story of two rural migrants, a naïve young boy and a small-time con man, trying to make ends meet living in the city of Wuhan, and falling in love with a female bar singer they abducted.

 

In 1998, it was selected for Un certain regard at Cannes Film Festival. His fifth feature, BEIJING BICYCLE (Shiqisuide danche/十七岁的单车) won the Grand Jury Silver Bear Award at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival, and the two leading male actors received the Best Young Actor Prize. The film had a great international career.

 

In 2003, DRIFTERS (Erdi/二弟) was screened at Un Certain Regard at Cannes Film Festival.

 

In 2005, his following film, SHANGHAI DREAMS (Qinghong/青红), was selected for competition for the 2005 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Jury Prize.

 

In 2008, IN LOVE WE TRUST (Zuoyou/左右) won the Silver Bear for the best screenplay in Berlin. In 2010, CHONGQING BLUES (Rizhao Chongqing/日照重庆) was selected in competition at Cannes Film Festival. The film received the Chinese Director Association Award for Best Director. His following film, 11 FLOWERS (Wo 11/我11), was the first Sino-French official coproduction. The film was presented at Toronto International Film Festival and in Competition at San Sebastian Film Festival.

 

RED AMNESIA (Chuangru zhe/闯入者) opened in Competition in Venice in September 2014. CHINESE PORTRAIT (Wo de Jingtou/我的镜头) is Wang Xiaoshuai's 11th feature film. His latest film, SO LONG, MY SON (Dijiu Tianchang/地久天长) was premiered in Competition at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2019.