Biography: Li Cheng is a writer, director, and producer who is originally from China. Cheng left biotechnology research in 2007 to focus on film, and his first feature, Joshua Tree (2014) is on the crisis of the American Dream – a critique of US American culture. His second feature, José (2018) premiered at the 75th Venice Film Festival on 6 September 2018 and was awarded Queer Lion the following day – for the project he conducted research in 12 Latin American countries and lived in Guatemala for two years: a struggling place yet filled with youthful hope. Cheng holds a PhD from Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA.