Cheng Zhang was born and raised in China. She graduated from Wu Yuzhang Honors College of Sichuan University with a BD in Environmental Science in 2011. While she was studying Environmental Management as a graduate student at Peking University, she came to realize that many environmental issues cannot be resolved solely by environmental professionals, that they are social issues in essence and needed wide discussion in our society. Marrying her passion in visual storytelling with the purpose of initiating social changes, she started making documentaries. Her thesis film at Stanford No Harm No Foul tries to probe into a systemic problem of lead contamination in the drinking water across time and space and uncover a story of corrosion, coverups and the corruption of science.

hd video
JUNE, 2016
VIDEO DURATION: 22:14 MIN.
Watch Video

In the tendency to assume that science-based conclusions are objective and reliable, public health tragedies are allowed to occur repeatedly.

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A Distant Reflection 

hd video
JUNE, 2015
VIDEO DURATION: 4:29 MIN.

A look at the experiences of living abroad from an immobile perspective.

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On Beat 

HD Video
Co-directed by Reid Davenport
MARCH, 2015
VIDEO DURATION: 6:44 MIN.

Music runs in the veins of every member of the Cotton family, but it’s not only about listening to it.

Awards, Festivals, and Screenings

Global Insights Stellar Award, Black Maria Film Festival, 2016
Reelabilities, 2016
SF Independent Film Fest, 2016
Stranger Stories: Documentaries by Stanford Students, Cantor Arts Center, 2015

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Life of Zili 

16mm black and white film
DECEMBER, 2014
VIDEO DURATION: 3:48 MIN.

A middle-aged first-generation Chinese immigrant lives independently while recovering from illness.

Awards, Festivals, and Screenings

Stranger Stories: Documentaries by Stanford Students, Cantor Arts Center, 2015