Top 24 Quotes & Sayings by Chloe Zhao

Explore popular quotes and sayings by a Chinese director Chloe Zhao.
Last updated on September 19, 2024.
Chloe Zhao

Chloé Zhao, born Zhao Ting, is a Chinese filmmaker, known primarily for her work on independent films. Zhao's debut feature film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015), premiered at Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim and earned a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. Her second feature film, The Rider (2017), was critically acclaimed and received nominations for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film and Best Director.

Unfortunately, I think I drifted so much growing up that I don't have a strong sense of identity. I don't feel at home anywhere, and because of that, I think I'm more of a chameleon.
I was born in Beijing and raised in England and America. I studied political science in college and film in graduate school in New York.
Coming from a country that's rapidly changing, I love the idea of a place like South Dakota where nothing has really changed. — © Chloe Zhao
Coming from a country that's rapidly changing, I love the idea of a place like South Dakota where nothing has really changed.
I'm constantly not on the right side of history. I sympathize with the soldiers in the enemy's camp. For example in WWII, we know the Nazis and the Japanese were wrong. But I sympathize with the individual story of a soldier who was drafted into that.
I was born and raised in China, Mandarin is my first language, and I definitely know America. I think that will be my strength, to try and bring the two worlds together.
What I love about America is not necessarily the American Dream but the fact that there's so much spirit of fighting to continue to dream once the dreams are broken.
Maybe, as a Chinese woman, I was never told I would be a filmmaker, so I didn't have the ego set up.
I was a pretty free-spirited kid. I was part of a notorious group of troublemakers who didn't do well in school but had a great time exploring Beijing from the inside out.
It's very important for feminism for us to tell our daughters that they should be strong. But to tell our sons that they can be vulnerable, to have these characters on screen that are not perfectly masculine cowboys that never fail, for our boys to change their psyche as well, that's equally important for feminism.
I would love to return to China one day to make films. I've been away for too long, so I'll need to spend some time back home before I can come up with an idea.
A documentary film-maker can't help but use poetry to tell the story. I bring truth to my fiction. These things go hand in hand.
The Indian cowboy is such a uniquely American contradiction.
I constantly modify myself. There are downfalls to that because you are constantly trying to figure out who you are, but at the same time, I'm blessed with the lack of base paint on the canvas.
I'm heavily influenced by European and American cinema, but the further I get in my career, the more I find myself looking back East for inspiration.
I want to make more films in the heartland, the forgotten America.
I often feel like an outsider wherever I go, so I'm always attracted to stories about identity and the meaning of home.
It's important to make time for yourself.
Some of the most hard-working, generous people I've met in my whole life didn't really want to vote for him but did. My calling is to step onto the other side and humanise and portray the struggles of many Trump voters.
I grew up in big cities my whole life, and in my late 20s, I just felt like I was looking for something else.
'Meek's Cutoff' by Kelly Reichardt - it's beautifully shot. It's a complex story. The filmmaker gave a very patient and feminine touch to a story that takes place during a period of history that's very masculine, without losing any of the unforgiving harshness of the reality where the characters found themselves in.
What defines a Western? I've probably seen three my whole life. — © Chloe Zhao
What defines a Western? I've probably seen three my whole life.
The films Sony Pictures Classics has distributed throughout the years have been of great inspiration to me. I'm very excited to find such a great home for 'The Rider.'
Meek's Cutoff by Kelly Reichardt. It's beautifully shot. It's a complex story. The filmmaker gave a very patient and feminine touch to a story that takes place during a period of history that's very masculine, without losing any of the unforgiving harshness of the reality where the characters found themselves in.
I want people to feel that they've gotten to know the people in the film a little bit, gotten to see Pine Ridge in ways they haven't seen before. I think that's a good start.
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