WRITER-DIRECTOR


Ziyao Liu is a writer-director based on Earth. 

She creates character-driven narratives of hybrid genres. Her goal is to reveal characters’ strengths and weaknesses in everyday moments and reimagine their lives that are otherwise constrained by reality. She loves to find humor in the absurdity of our existence beyond language and cultural barriers. 

A member of BAFTA Connect and a fellow of Armed with a Camera, she earned her MFA in Directing from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her BA in Film from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Born in China and now a resident alien in Los Angeles, she spends her free time tending her plants and walking in her neighborhood. 


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04 NEVER SAY CRY
2023

17 minutes, 2023, digital, color, sound
When Mom's temporary visit turns into an indefinite stay due to the pandemic, Lei is forced to confront the seemingly irreconcilable gap between them.


2024 Houston Asian American Pacific Islander Film Festival 
2024 Dam Short Film Festival 
2023 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival  
2023 Short to the Point ISFF Awards


producer: Sophie Changhui Shi 
writer, director, editor: Ziyao Liu 
production designer: Shruti Parekh
sound designer: David Raines
composer: Karam Salem