From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Zhao Tao (Chinese: 赵涛, born 28 January 1977) is a famous Chinese actress, work in China and Europe, she has over 10 films to her credit since starting her career in 1999, muse of director Jia Zhangke. Zhao first came into international prominence through close collaboration with Chinese director Jia Zhangke and is credited with helping to bring Chinese cinema to Europe, especially Italy. As Shun Li in Io sono Li, her best starring role to date, she became the first Asian actress to win a prize at David di Donatello. Zhao's native language is Jinese, but she is multilingual, having learned to speak Italian, Mandarin and Szechuanese. Biography She was born January 28, 1977, in Taiyuan, Shanxi, which is also the hometown of the heroine in Still Life. As a child, she studied classical Chinese dance. In 1996, she enrolled in the folk dance department at Beijing Dance Academy. After graduation, she became a dance teacher in Taiyuan Normal College, where she was spotted by Jia during casting for Platform. Since then they work frequently together. In 2011 she starred in the Italian movie Shun Li and the Poet by Andrea Segre, the movie was screened in the Venice Days section of the 68th Venice International Film Festival. Zhao won the David di Donatello Award, the Italian Oscar, for Best Actress for her bilingual role.
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Biography from TMDB.
- January 28, 1977 (49)
- Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
- Actor, also producer
- 7 on MovieCove · 27 credits in all
What are Tao Zhao's films like?
Across their 7 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 7
Light 0 · Serious 3 · Dark 4
A split, not a type: Grounded 4 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 1
Gentle 2 · Charged 4 · Intense 1
Steady 6 · Shifting 0 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 6 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0
Slow burn 6 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0
Casual 1 · Engaged 5 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 0 · Affecting 6 · Heavy 1
Resolved 1 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 3
Roles they play
Usually the Hero: 5 of 5 analyzed roles.
- Heroas Shen Hong in Still Life (2006)
- Heroas Xiao Yu in A Touch of Sin (2013)
- Heroas Shen Tao in Mountains May Depart (2015)
- Heroas Qiao in Ash Is Purest White (2018)
- Heroas Qiaoqiao in Caught by the Tides (2024)
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet3
- Ambiguous4
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Tao Zhao's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 4 of their 7 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Tao Zhao's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
27 credits, 7 with a MovieCove page; 2 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Torino Shadow (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
Caught by the Tides(2024)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 61st percentile of all films
Love is All (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Ash Is Purest White(2018)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Where Has Time Gone? (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Revive (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
The Hedonists (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
Mountains May Depart(2015)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
Smog Journeys (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
A Touch of Sin(2013)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Shun Li and the Poet (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Midcredits score: 33rd percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Ten Thousand Waves (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Living (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Remembrance (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Black Breakfast (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
24 City (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Cry Me a River (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Useless (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Our Ten Years (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Still Life(2006)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Walking on the Wild Side (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
The World (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)
Unknown Pleasures (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2002)
Platform (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
Mamma Dunhuang (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 98th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 27 titles, 26 of them dated from 2001 to 2026; peak year 2001.
Film career
Peak 2001 · fewer prominent film roles lately. Top draw in 5 MovieCove titles. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 2001Screen debut· Platform
- 2001First top-billed film· Platform
- 2018Career best· Ash Is Purest White
Billing
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30; the columns are the share of top-billed roles in each era, 5-year spans from the year on the label, merged until each holds at least 5 roles.
How do Tao Zhao's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 81st percentile, the median of all 7; across their 7 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 85th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up4
- 50th to 74th2
- 25th to 49th1
Shape of the crowd
5 of their 7 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Crowd Pleaser5
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the acting 72/100 in their films, across 6 reviewed titles; fans 78, detractors 41. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Tao Zhao work with?
People who share at least 2 of Tao Zhao's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Zhangke Jia shares the most, 7.
Directors
- Zhangke JiaShared titles: Caught by the Tides (2024), Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (2020), Ash Is Purest White (2018), Mountains May Depart (2015), A Touch of Sin (2013), 3.11 A Sense of Home Films (2011), Still Life (2006)See all 7 shared titles with Zhangke Jia
Writers
- Jiahuan WanShared titles: Caught by the Tides (2024), Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Jiahuan Wan
Actors
- Sanming HanShared titles: Mountains May Depart (2015), A Touch of Sin (2013), Still Life (2006)See all 3 shared titles with Sanming Han
- Zhou LanShared titles: Caught by the Tides (2024), Still Life (2006)See all 2 shared titles with Zhou Lan
- Zhubin LiShared titles: Caught by the Tides (2024), Still Life (2006)See all 2 shared titles with Zhubin Li
- Yi ZhangShared titles: Ash Is Purest White (2018), Mountains May Depart (2015)See all 2 shared titles with Yi Zhang
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Nelson Lik-wai YuShared titles: Caught by the Tides (2024), Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (2020), Mountains May Depart (2015), A Touch of Sin (2013), Still Life (2006)See all 5 shared titles with Nelson Lik-wai Yu
- Giong LimShared titles: Caught by the Tides (2024), Ash Is Purest White (2018), A Touch of Sin (2013), Still Life (2006)See all 4 shared titles with Giong Lim
- Matthieu LaclauShared titles: Caught by the Tides (2024), Ash Is Purest White (2018), Mountains May Depart (2015), A Touch of Sin (2013)See all 4 shared titles with Matthieu Laclau
- Xudong LinShared titles: Caught by the Tides (2024), Ash Is Purest White (2018), A Touch of Sin (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Xudong Lin
Producers
- Shôzô IchiyamaShared titles: Caught by the Tides (2024), Ash Is Purest White (2018), Mountains May Depart (2015), A Touch of Sin (2013)See all 4 shared titles with Shôzô Ichiyama
- Zhonglun RenShared titles: Ash Is Purest White (2018), Mountains May Depart (2015), A Touch of Sin (2013), Still Life (2006)See all 4 shared titles with Zhonglun Ren
- Dong ZhangShared titles: Ash Is Purest White (2018), Mountains May Depart (2015), A Touch of Sin (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Dong Zhang
- Shiyu LiuShared titles: Ash Is Purest White (2018), Mountains May Depart (2015), A Touch of Sin (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Shiyu Liu