Zhao Tao (born 28 January 1977) is a Chinese actress. She works in China and occasionally Europe, and has appeared in 10 films and several shorts since starting her career in 1999. She is best known for her collaborations with her husband, director

Jia Zhangke Jia Zhangke ( zh, c=贾樟柯, p=Jiǎ Zhāngkē, born 24 May 1970) .He is a Chinese-language film and television director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and writer. He is the dean of the Shanxi Film Academy of Shanxi Media College and the dea ...

, including ''

Platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

'' (2000) and ''

Still Life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, bo ...

'' (2006). With ''

Shun Li and the Poet ''Shun Li and the Poet'' ( it, Io sono Li) is a 2011 Italian drama film directed by Andrea Segre. It won the European Parliament Lux Prize in 2012. Zhao Tao won the 2012 David di Donatello for Best Actress for her performance as Shun Li. It also ...

'' (2011), she became the first Asian actress to win a prize at

David di Donatello The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's ''David'', a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance, are film awards given out each year by the ''Accademia del Cinema Italiano'' (The Academy of Italian Cinema). There are 26 award cat ...

. She received two

Golden Horse Award The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is us ...

nominations for ''

Mountains May Depart ''Mountains May Depart'' () is a 2015 Mandarin-language drama and the 8th feature film directed by Jia Zhangke. It competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. and was also selected to be shown in the Special Presentations sectio ...

'' (2015) and ''

Ash Is Purest White ''Ash Is Purest White'' ( zh, 江湖儿女; 'Sons and Daughters of Jianghu') is a 2018 Chinese drama directed by Jia Zhangke. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. The story is loosely based on the lea ...

'' (2018). In 2020, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' ranked her #8 on its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.

Biography

Zhao was born 28 January 1977 in

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

, Shanxi, which is also the hometown of the heroine in ''

''. As a child, she studied classical Chinese dance. In 1996, she enrolled in the folk dance department at

Beijing Dance Academy The Beijing Dance Academy (BDA, ) is a municipal public professional dance college at Haidian, Beijing. The academy is the highest institution for dance education and assessment in the People's Republic of China, conducting the nationwide teache ...

. After graduation, she became a dance teacher in Taiyuan Normal College, where she was spotted by Jia during casting for ''

''. Since then, they have worked together frequently. In 2011, she starred in the Italian film ''

'' by Andrea Segre, which screened in the Venice Days section of the

68th Venice International Film Festival The 68th annual Venice International Film Festival was held in Venice, Italy between 31 August and 10 September 2011. American film director Darren Aronofsky was announced as the Head of the Jury. American actor and film director Al Pacino was p ...

. Zhao won the

David di Donatello Award The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's ''David'', a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance, are film awards given out each year by the '' Accademia del Cinema Italiano'' (The Academy of Italian Cinema). There are 26 award ca ...

, the Italian Oscar, for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

for her bilingual role. Cannes 080 (27496091263)

Personal life

On 7 January 2012, Zhao married director

Complete filmography

References

External links

Conversation with Zhao Tao and Jia Zhangke
at Asia Society * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhao, Tao Living people 21st-century Chinese actresses Actresses from Shanxi Chinese film actresses People from Taiyuan David di Donatello winners 1977 births Asia Pacific Screen Award winners