An accomplished film director, producer, poet, talk show host and screenwriter from China, Margaret Bihong Sha has worked as a writer and film director for more than 20 years, traveling extensively through Asia, Europe and the United States, and strives to create more great novel and film works. She is currently in the final stage of production for her film “See Me Once More, My Dear Kid,” which is a feature film based on the true story of a school shooting. It is also her first film after settling in the United States. Love and peace have been a common theme in her works. Since 1986, she has made more than 100 episodes of a documentary TV series as well as countless films and stage plays.
Ms. Sha has also built a platform for artists from around the world through her work as chair of the Hollywood International Women Arts Alliance (IWAA). Currently, she and her team are organizing the second Hollywood IWAA International Film Festival, which will focus on female artists and woman-themed films alongside the regular artists’ workshops they run. Looking toward the future, Ms. Sha hopes to build up an international art college within the Hollywood International Women Arts Alliance.
Ms. Sha was additionally the co-founder and co-chair of the Montgomery International Film Festival and has served as the director, producer and chair of ShaFilm since 2004. She has further utilized her expertise as a judge for several international film festivals, including the North American Chinese Short Film Tour and the China V Film Decade Exhibition, and is chair of the Shanghai-based Golden Phoenix Film Company Ltd.
Since 1994, Ms. Sha has been a well-regarded reporter and the host of a talk show with a TV audience that numbers in the millions. She was the director and scriptwriter for the documentaries “One Dream for Generations of Women” and “Go to School?! Or Stray on the Streets?” as well as the director and writer for the 2001 “Tears in Heaven” and the 26-episode TV series “Flowers of Rebirth. She also directed, produced and was the scriptwriter for “She is not Animals,” a documentary that focused on and brought attention to human trafficking in China, making her the first director, writer and producer in China to tackle the topic of human trafficking in film, television and print.
Ms. Sha has published numerous works of poetry and fiction, including the novel “The Wandering Soul,” which was published in 2000. For the past few years, she has been working on a novel about the last hundred years of national history. She maintains professional affiliation with the Hollywood Filmmaker Masters, the China Writers Association and the Television Drama Directors Association in an effort to remain up to date with developments in her field.
Driven to make a difference in the lives of others, Ms. Sha has been involved with a number of charitable endeavors as well. She is active with the ONE Foundation, where she provides clothing and food for children who have lost their parents. The organization also helps to provide care to the elderly and financial support to poorer populations. She also ran yearly charitable efforts to provide school supplies to schools and orphanages in Tibet as well.
Having always enjoyed art and writing, Ms. Sha was greatly inspired by her father, a literature professor at a local school, and her mother, a doctor, to find a career where she could use her skills to impact the lives of others. She first pursued an education at an undergraduate university in Harbin, where she earned a Bachelor of Literature in 1986. Traveling to Germany to continue her studies in 1993, she studied film and theater before returning to China to begin her career.
For her excellence, Ms. Sha has been presented with a number of honors and accolades over the course of her career, including the Gold Award of the China Radio & TV Awards and the Jules Verne International Media Gold Award for her and her team’s works. Impressively, she and her team have received seven Golden Award and Silver Award prizes of World Media Festival of Hamburg in Germany. Above these accolades, Ms. Sha considers the highlight of her career to be the proactive impact her work has had on the lives of others, and she points to her documentary on human trafficking as a key example of this.
Ms. Sha hopes to be remembered for her works, which she has used to deliver love to people around the world. To women looking to make a name for themselves in the field, she would advise them of three things. First, respect and be proud of your gender, and don’t limit yourself because of it. Second, be ready for challenges in your work and smile at them. Lastly, follow your heart and passion and don’t let other people decide what you can and cannot do. More information about Ms. Sha and her work can be found at www.margaretsha.com and www.hollywoodiwaa.org.
