Haoran (Mello) Qiu
Haoran (b.2000, China) is a childhood enthusiast and storyteller. He believes that everything he creates is a reworking and rewriting of childhood memories. He likes to find the adult nature in childhood stories. He works in the fields of narrative short film, moving image, video installation and still image. His creations focus on the emotional connection between people, finding the subtle gap between reality and surreality, between the story told and not told, and then using the layers of dialogue to drive the storytelling for his creations. He currently enjoys drinking sparkling water and sleeping on the floor.
His short film ‘Re-dive Deeply’ reconstructs the river between childhood memory and reality, retraces the non-linearity of time, and extends to the emotional connection with different people. The short film was selected for the 4th NOWNESS Short Film Award in 2022 and exhibited at Barbican Centre in 2024. In 2023-2025 he worked on TVC projects for international brands such as RIMOWA, TASAKI and SKII. His work has been widely exhibited in London, Oxford, Banbury, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Chengdu.
Education
2023-2024
MFA, University of Oxford, Oxford, the UK
2019-2023
BA, Communication University of Zhejiang, Jiaxing, China
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITION
2025
“Keyword”, 幻 Photism, Chengdu, China
2024
“Free Range”, Truman Brewery, London, the UK
“BITE”, University of Oxford, Oxford, the UK
“New hybrids” collaboration show, JdP Music Building, Oxford, the UK
“Ironstone Art Prize”, Banbury Museum & Gallery, Banbury, the UK
“China Wave”, Barbican Centre, London, the UK
2023
The 5th anniversary tour of NOWNESS, Forebeach Taikoo Lane MOViE MOViE Cinema, Shanghai, China
The 5th anniversary tour of NOWNESS, Vientiane International Cinema, Shenzhen, China “Stay Festival”, SeP of Jiazazhi, Shanghai, China
2022
The 4th NOWNESS Short Film Awards, TANK, Shanghai, China
“INSTANCE ZONE II”, M50, Shanghai, China
“‘The Container’ of library image archival project of CUZ” , Fuyicang Art Gallery, Hangzhou, China
AWARDS & GRANT
2024
“Ironstone Art Prize” shortlist, Banbury, the UK
2022
“the 4th NOWNESS Film Awards” official selection, Shanghai, China
PROFESSIONAL
2025
Working as Director Assistant for Disney, SKII, etc. Shanghai, China
2024
Content Creator, Financial Street Youth Development Centre, London & Beijing
Copywriter & Creativity, NOWNESS x BURBERRY Team B Series, Shanghai, China
2023
Director Assistant, Zhaodan Studio for RIMOWA, TASAKI, etc. Shanghai, China
2022
Photographer, Jiazazhi publishing house, Ningbo, China
2021
International Symposium Team Member, Lishui International Photography Festival, Lishui, China
INTERVIEW & MEDIA REPORT
2024
Nouvelles D’ Europe, NO.634, 0202-0208, London
2023
Life Magazine, No. 196, Shanghai
2022
Modern Weekly x NOWNESS PAPER, No. 13, Shanghai