Lydia Rui is an award-winning Australian Chinese writer and director based in the UK. They are a 2022 MA Directing Fiction graduate of the National Film & Television School, UK, with support from Screen Australia Enterprise and the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Fund. Prior to NFTS, she was twice Australian Directors Guild Award nominated and won the 2020 Flickerfest Emerging Female Filmmaker Award. She cut her teeth working on NYU MFA films, where she graduated with a BFA, then went on to be the videographer for Beyoncé’s Mrs. Carter World Tour through North America and Europe. She then worked full time as a director’s assistant for Exit Films, then Australia’s leading production company, before leaving to pursue her own work.

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In 2023, they were selected for TorinoFilmLab's Script Lab, where they won the arteKINO International Award, the Toronto International Film Festival Filmmakers' Lab as a TIFF Every Story Fellow, and the Zurich Film Festival Academy. They are currently developing a feature film with Screen Australia and another with Pulse Films. Their work has screened at Academy® and BAFTA-qualifying festivals, such as Tribeca Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, Flickerfest International Short Film Festival, Norwich Film Festival, Rhode Island International Film Festival, HollyShorts, L'Étrange Film Festival, and been featured on Vimeo Staff Picks, Omeleto, and TOPIC