While most people in his profession tended to spend the bulk of their careers with a single studio, Zhou Ke 周克 never stayed in one place for long, although he was highly respected among his peers and worked on some of China's best films of the 1930s. Zhou began in 1925 with the Youlian studio, but by the time his first effort,《Autumn Stirs Resentments》, was released in early 1926 he had moved to the larger Shenzhou studio, where he worked for a year as a producer and editor while continuing to polish his cinematography skills. He then joined the Mingxing studio, where he was mentored by the legendary Dong Keyi 董克毅. After 1930 he moved to the new and progressive Lianhua studio, and then, after filming the award-winning《Song of the Fisherman》, he moved to Yihua, another progressive studio. He left Yihua in 1935: the reasons are not recorded, but several of the studio's top filmmakers, including writer Tian Han and writer/director Shi Dongshan, had resigned that spring after a dispute with studio heads, and that may have been a factor. In any case, Zhou Ke made no more feature films after 1935, turning instead to making documentaries, his last credit in 1939.
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Filmography (as cinematographer, unless indicated otherwise):
1926:
Autumn Stirs Resentments
Moral Principles (producer and assistant cinematographer)
Disaster for Younger Sister (producer and editor)
1927:
A Courtesan's Wish (assistant cinematographer and editor)
A Dream of Red Mansions (also assistant director)
1928:
The Beijing Yang Guifei (aka Yang Xiaozhen)
Heroine in Black
The Heroine Saves a Lady
1929:
Tears and Flowers (co-cinematographer, with Dong Keyi)
Repentance
Papa Loves Mama
1930:
The Road to Riches
New Journey to the West II, III (co-cinematographer, with Dong Keyi)
A Red Egg
A Romantic Girl
Virtuous Mother From a Brothel
1931:
Hengniang
Two Galaxy Stars (also actor)
1932:
Spring in the South
Pink Dream
Loving Blood of the Volcano
Confronting the National Crisis
Struggle
1933:
Daybreak
Early Morning in the Metropolis
Little Toys
1934:
Song of the Fisherman
Golden Age
1935:
The Beginning of Life
A Hero of our Time
