XIONA

film director / content producer

Xiona Li is a chinese trans-feminine filmmaker based in London whose work explores the multi-faceted identities of the modern world, and seeks to represent intersectional experiences. She is best known for her short documentary Friction (2024) that explores transgender lives in China, her cult indie feature The Artist (2021), queer-themed drama short film Tropical Night (2021), and for producing various documentary portraits of artists for galleries. Her approach is deeply informed by philosophical inquiries, intersectionality and gender studies, often incorporating new technologies such as 3D conceptual constructions and AI generated imagery.

Work Hightlights

Documentary on WAKE UP

An avant-garde queer performance merging fine art, fashion, and ritual in a historic church setting.

The fusion of queer art and the mystical ambience of the ancient church offers the audience a visual and sensory feast that transcends time and cultural boundaries. Fluid gender, redefined identity, and the collision of tradition and modernity come together to craft an unrepeatable, epic artistic narrative.

Wake Up - Short Documentary Trailer

Friction - Short Documentary Trailer

A DATE WITH THE OCEAN (2024) Short Documentary

The ocean has been trying to communicate its pain for years, through rising tides, dwindling fish stocks, and coral bleaching; but humanity hasn’t always listened.

‘A Date with the Ocean’ is an unscripted experiment that prompts its participants to consider how they could forge a happy, harmonious and symbiotic relationship with the Ocean.

FRICTION (2024) Short Documentary

an experimental exploring the social erasure and segregation of trans identities using mannequin symbolism and AI generated imageries. Reveal the ‘friction’ in body conceptualization.

Features Yuqi Zhang, a closeted transgender woman in her 30s living in mainland China, she faces a harrowing choice: risk social abandonment by embracing her true self or endure the mental strain of remaining invisible to stay safe.

A Date with the Ocean - Experimental Doc Short

The Artist - Teaser Trailer

THE ARTIST (2021) Narrative Feature

A visually arresting 59-minute film that delves into the psyche of Peter, a struggling artist whose obsession with his craft leads him down a dark and surreal path.

Disillusioned artist discovers a mysterious wound that bleeds the perfect medium for his paintings, driving him into a haunting spiral of ambition, obsession, and the ultimate price of artistic genius.

TROPICAL NIGHT (2021) Short Film

A high school girl in Asia whose father left the family at her early age is struggling financially with her mother, she gains empowerment and new directions from a coincidental encounter with an online sex-cam girl.