Yu Ninghui, Deng Xu for Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Chun Jiang Shui Nuan)

Nomination Detail

Born in 1987 in Zhejiang Province and studied at the Beijing Film Academy, cinematographer Yu Ninghui received his first APSA nomination for Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountain (2019), which screened at the Cannes Film Festival’s Critics’ Week. In the film, Yu and his co-cinematographer Deng Xu capture the changing seasons over a year in a Chinese village from the blistering heat of summer to winter’s bleak chill and everything in between. The pair utilised slow pans and wide tracking shots that unfold much like the legendary 14th century scroll painting that inspired the film’s title.

Deng Xu is a painter and cinematographer who has loved painting since childhood in China. Several of his paintings have been enrolled in Collections of Classic Paintings of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, considered one of the most prestigious and renowned art academies in the country. Others works are collected by the Liy Hausu Art Museum. In the early years after his graduation from the School of Photography of Beijing Film Academy, he filmed documentaries in Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia and Thailand. In 2019, Mr. Deng worked as a cinematography mentor at the short film training camp of the 13th FIRST Film Festival, noted for its screenings of challenging Chinese cinema. He received his first APSA nomination for Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (2019), which screened at the Cannes Film Festival’s Critics’ Week. In the film, Deng and his co-cinematographer utilised slow pans and wide tracking shots that unfold much like the legendary 14th century scroll painting that inspired the film’s title.