Na Renhua

Naren Hua (born 17 November 1962) is a Chinese film and television actress of Mongolian ethnicity.

Name

Her name is derived from the Mongolian word for sunflower ( наран цэцэг – "sun", ; "flower", , , ). It is sometimes romanised as Na Renhua or Na Ren-Hua.

Early life Naren Hua was born on November 17, 1962, in Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia, China. She once lived in London and Hong Kong.

Career Naren Hua began her film career in 1976 in Zhan Di Huang Hua.

In 1986 she played Xiao Xiao in Xie Fei's A Girl from Hunan, which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, and was one of the first mainland Chinese films to be commercially screened in the United States. The film is based on a 1929 short-story, Xiao Xiao (or Hsiao Hsiao), by author Shen Congwen. A Girl from Hunan tells the story of a willful young girl (initially played by Lin Qing and played as an adult by Naren Hua) who, at the start of the film, is about to enter into an arranged marriage with a two-year-old child, Chun Guan. Xiao Xiao, the girl in question, is only twelve. She lets herself be seduced by a farmhand and soon finds herself pregnant. Knowing that the traditional village still executes women for adultery, Xiao Xiao is desperate to abort the baby but fails to accomplish her goal.

In 1995 she was again directed by Xie Fei in A Mongolian Tale, an adaptation of Zhang Chengzhi's novel Black Steed, The movie had its premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival.

In 2002 she had the leading role in Heavenly Grassland. The film tells about a young Han Chinese boy, Tiger, who is adopted by a family living in the steppes of Inner Mongolia. Her performance was particularly praised and won Nare Hua several accolades, including the Shanghai Film Critics Awards for Best Actress.

In 2010 she had the leading role in Mother, also known as My Mongolian Mother (Chinese: E ji). The film, based on a true story, tells about two Chinese children transplanted in Mongolia, where they are adopted by Qiqigema Erji (Naren Hua) against the wishes of her husband, and raised as nomads. Twenty years later one of the children knows about his biological parents and leaves for Shanghai. The other child also finally meets his biological parents, and is then faced with a choice. Naren Hua won the Best Actress Award at the 28th Golden Rooster Awards for her performance in this movie.

In 2017 she had a supporting role in Li Ruijun's Walking Past the Future. In 2019 she played Juimei in A Dog Barking at the Moon. The movie, which won the award for Best First Feature Film at the Inside Out Film and Video Festival and the Teddy Award at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival for its LGBT topics, tells about a pregnant daughter who is caught between her homosexual father and "unmitigated termagant" mother (Naren Hua), who reverses on her daughter all her anger, whose chief cause is her father's homosexuality.

Filmography Year Title Director Role Notes 1976 Zhan Di Huang Hua Ma Erlu grand daughter 1979 Ru Yan Fei Sun Jing Shang Xiaoli 1986 A Girl from Hunan Xie Fei/Wu Lan Xiaoxiao Golden Phoenix Award Society AwardNominated - Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress 1995 A Mongolian Tale Xie Fei Someyer 2002 Heavenly Grassland Sai Fu/Mai Lisi Baorima Golden Phoenix Award Society AwardShanghai Film Critics Award for Best ActressNominated - Golden Rooster Award for Best ActressNominated - Huabiao Award for Outstanding Actress 2005 The Monsoon Horse Ning Cai Yingjidema Nominated - Huabiao Award for Outstanding Actress Between Life and Death (2005 film) Zhou Youchao Xie Li Nominated - Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress 2010 My Mongolian Mother (credited as Na Renhua) Ning Cai Golden Rooster Award for Best ActressHuabiao Award for Outstanding Actress 2015 Qi Gong (The Calligraphy Master) 2019 A Dog Barking at the Moon Juimei

Awards and nominations