Zhang Jialing (张嘉玲, also credited as Lynn Zhang; born 1984) is an Emmy Award-nominated independent filmmaker based in Beijing and Massachusetts. Zhang holds a Master’s degree from New York University in documentary filmmaking. Her award-winning feature documentary debut Complicit (2017) follows the journey of a benzene-poisoned Chinese migrant worker who takes on the global electronics manufacturing industry. The film premiered at the London Human Rights Watch Film Festival in 2017. Her second feature film One Child Nation (2019) which she co-directed with fellow NYU alumna Wang Nanfu, won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for Documentary Feature at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Zhang has also freelanced as a local producer for various programs and media including “Vice” on HBO, Fusion TV and The New York Times. Jialing Zhang's first documentary directed on her own was the German-Dutch co-production Total Trust (2023), about the all-encompassing surveillance apparatus in China and the individual people who defend themselves against it. After several international festival screenings, Total Trust opened in German cinemas in October 2023.
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Biography from TMDB.
- January 1, 1984 (42)
- Director, producer and writer
- 3 on MovieCove · 4 credits in all
What are Jialing Zhang's films like?
Across a limited sample of 3 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Power and Ideas.
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 3
Light 0 · Serious 0 · Dark 3
Grounded 3 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 0
Gentle 0 · Charged 1 · Intense 2
A split, not a type: Steady 2 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0
A split, not a type: Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0
Casual 0 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 0 · Affecting 0 · Heavy 3
Resolved 2 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
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 Jialing Zhang's films?
As of October 24, 2026, all 3 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Jialing Zhang'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
4 credits, 3 with a MovieCove page.
Total Trust(2023)
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
In the Same Breath(2021)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
One Child Nation(2019)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Complicit (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Career shape
A full career of 4 titles from 2017 to 2023.
Awards
1 major award from 6 major nominations, 2019–2022.
- Producers Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Documentary
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking
+2 other major bodies · 2 nominations
- Directors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
- Producers Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures
- Sundance award, won · Documentary
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Jialing Zhang's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 93rd percentile, the median of all 3; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 89th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
Shape of the crowd
None of their 3 titles divides audiences: 3 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Crowd Pleaser3
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 Jialing Zhang work with?
People who share at least 2 of Jialing Zhang's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Nanfu Wang shares the most, 2.
Directors
- Nanfu WangShared titles: In the Same Breath (2021), One Child Nation (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Nanfu Wang
Composers and cinematographers
- Nathan HalpernShared titles: In the Same Breath (2021), One Child Nation (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Nathan Halpern
- Yuanchen LiuShared titles: In the Same Breath (2021), One Child Nation (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Yuanchen Liu
Producers
- Carolyn HepburnShared titles: In the Same Breath (2021), One Child Nation (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Carolyn Hepburn
- Christopher ClementsShared titles: In the Same Breath (2021), One Child Nation (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Christopher Clements
- Julie GoldmanShared titles: In the Same Breath (2021), One Child Nation (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Julie Goldman
Mixed roles
- Michelle GaoShared titles: Total Trust (2023), In the Same Breath (2021)See all 2 shared titles with Michelle Gao