Xueni Yang is a film director, performer, and movement artist working across cinema, performance, and actor training.
Born in Beijing, raised in the U.S., and now based in Prague, her work moves between film and embodied practice, with a focus on presence, physical precision, and the relationship between body, space, and image.
Her short film Fir was nominated for the Czech Lion Award for Best Student Film and has screened internationally. Her project The Last Day of July was a semi-finalist at the BlueCat Screenplay Competition.
In 2026, she serves as a jury member for the Women’s Voices Now Film Festival.
Alongside her directing work, Xueni works as an actress in international productions, including Blade Runner 2099, and leads movement-based training for actors, drawing from choreography, physical theatre, and screen practice.
She teaches film language and dramaturgy at the university level.
Filmography
2025 Deadly Alive. Feature. Early Development.
2025 The Last Day of July. Short. Writer-director. Currently at funding stage.
2023 Fir. Writer, director, editor. Nomination of the Best Student Film Award at Czech Lion Awards held by Czech Film and Television Academy (ČFTA).
2022 The Bus Stop Where Once We Were. Writer, director, editor.
2022 Red Balloon, 35mm short film. Writer, director, editor.
2021 Hush, dance short film. Writer, director, producer. Semi-Finalist at Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival 2022.
2020 "Mother", Sci-fi short film. Writer, director. Official Selection of Beverly Hills Film Festival 2021
2019 Fishbowl, 16mm short film. Writer, director. Best Student Film of ARFF Film Festival(Amsterdam) 2021
