Jimmy Chao
Taiwan-based cinematographer.
Cinematography begins with the scene: what needs to be seen, what should remain unsaid, and where the audience should stand in relation to the moment.
Often guided by performance, he is interested in the small shifts that happen before or after dialogue — a held look, a body turning away, the distance between two people in the same room. Camera distance, for him, is not only a matter of composition, but a way of finding the right scale for the performance.
His work is shaped by restraint. The image does not need to be louder than the scene. Instead, it should hold a position where the story is clear, the performance can breathe, and the image feels necessary.
MFA in Cinematography — Beijing Film Academy
Best Cinematography — 48th Golden Harvest Awards
Best Cinematography — Beijing Film Academy He Qun Scholarship, 2023
Her Slope
Private cook Lai solves her clients’ problems but struggles with her husband. Secretly learning to drive becomes her anchor. On her first road lesson, a small change unsettles her life.
No Place Like Home
Johney, a Filipino migrant worker in Taiwan, returns from a night shift to find strangers dismantling her dorm. She must defend her home—and a secret she’s been hiding.
Another Man in the Crowd
During a routine audition, a young actor begins to question whether to continue, caught between performance and reality.
TRICKLE
In a sea-eroded cave, three monks face a worsening water shortage. As one clings to legend and discipline, doubt grows over whether faith can truly create what is needed.
Everything in its Right Place
Atrui, a night-shift manager in an old building in central Taipei, finds purpose in surveillance and reporting. As he uncovers collusion beneath the order he enforces, he must decide whether to remain complicit or expose what he has seen.
Back to Work
After returning to work, Lifen sets out to find the housemaid who has disappeared. When she finally confronts Adi, the truth behind the escape forces Lifen into a far more difficult choice.
Song La !
A veteran food courier stumbles into a staged reality he wasn’t meant to see. As the line between performer and spectator collapses, control of the show slips out of everyone’s hands.
Najman
Najman wanders through empty spaces with a dead cat in his care. By the time he disappears, something that seemed lost quietly returns.
