Cao Yu

Cao Yu (; born August 15, 1974) is a Chinese cinematographer best known for his work on City of Life and Death, Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, and See You Tomorrow. As a cinematographer, he became famous for his three collaborations with director Lu Chuan. In June 2025, Cao was invited to join the Cinematographers Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Early life and education Cao was born on August 15, 1974, in Beijing. After graduating from Beijing Film Academy in 1997, he was assigned to Beijing Film Studio. When he was a college student, his greatest interest was to study equipment and Library. American Cinematographer is the most popular magazine he has borrowed from the university library. When he saw an article that he was interested in, he would copy it.

Career Cao made his feature film debut with the 1997 comedy film Run Away, which earned him a Youth Film Fund award at the 54th Cannes Film Festival.

In 2001, he shot the feature film Chicken Poets, and won a Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Film Festival. That same year, he began to shot advertisement films.

In 2004, he shot Lu Chuan's Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, for which he received the Best Cinematography nomination at the 25th Golden Rooster Awards and received the Best Cinematography at the 41st Golden Horse Awards.

Cao was cinematographer for the 2010 romantic comedy film Color Me Love.

In 2012, he collaborated with Yang Shupeng on the action film An Inaccurate Memoir.

In 2015, he was selected as cinematographer for the 3D adventure action film Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe, his third collaborated with director Lu Chuan.

In 2017, Cao won the Best Cinematography at the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards for his work in See You Tomorrow, and was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 54th Golden Horse Awards.

Personal life In March 2011, Cao Yu began dating actress Yao Chen after they met in Color Me Love. On November 18, 2012, they married in Queenstown, New Zealand. On July 15, 2013, their son, nicknamed Xiao Tudou , was born in Beijing. Their daughter, nicknamed Xiao Moli , was born on November 9, 2016. On March 16, 2026, Yao announced on Weibo that she had divorced Cao many years ago.

Film Year English Title Chinese title Director Notes 1997 Run Away 2002 Chicken Poets Meng Jinghui 2004 Kekexili: Mountain Patrol Lu Chuan 2009 City of Life and Death Lu Chuan 2010 Color Me Love Chen Yili Driverless Zhang Yang 2011 The Law of Attraction Zhao Tianyu 2012 An Inaccurate Memoir Yang Shupeng 2015 Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe Lu Chuan 2017 See You Tomorrow Zhang Jiajia Legend of the Demon Cat Chen Kaige 2018 Forever Young Li Fangfang 2019 My People, My Country–The Guiding Star Chen Kaige 2024 Decoded Chen Sicheng

Awards and nominations Date Award Category Recipient(s) and nominee(s) Result 2004 41st Golden Horse Awards Best Cinematography Kekexili: Mountain Patrol 2005 25th Golden Rooster Awards 2009 57th San Sebastian International Film Festival City of Life and Death 46th Golden Horse Awards 3rd Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2010 4th Asian Film Awards 2017 36th Hong Kong Film Awards See You Tomorrow 54th Golden Horse Awards 2018 10th Macau International Movie Festival Forever Young 12th Asian Film Awards Legend of the Demon Cat 17th Huabiao Awards 2019 32nd Golden Rooster Awards 2021 34th Golden Rooster Awards 1921 16th Changchun Film Festival