---
name: "Cathy Yan"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/cathy-yan"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "25 January 1983"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "director"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-17T11:58:46.743143+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Cathy Yan

Director. Born 25 January 1983 in China.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 25 January 1983, China
- **Active:** 2018–present
- **Also known as:**  阎羽茜, 염우천, 閻羽茜
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Yan, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q51923835, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4014166/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1936668

## Coming up

- *Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)* (2020-02-05), Director — [page](https://film.one/film/birds-of-prey-and-the-fantabulous-emancipation-of-one-harley-quinn.md)
- *The Gallerist* (2026-12-04), Director

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Succession*](https://film.one/tv/succession.md) (88)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Cathy Yan is a film director, screenwriter and producer. She directed the feature *Dead Pigs* (2018), which she also wrote, and the DC Extended Universe film *Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)* (2020). She has also directed an episode of the series *Succession* (2018).

Yan was born in China and raised in Northern Virginia and Hong Kong. She graduated from Princeton University and later completed dual MBA/MFA degrees at New York University. Before filmmaking she worked as a journalist for the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nme.com, vanityfair.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Succession* (2018), Fi1m 88, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/succession.md)

## Complete filmography (12)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Gallerist* (2026), Director, Screenplay
- *Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)* (2020), Director — coming soon, [page](https://film.one/film/birds-of-prey-and-the-fantabulous-emancipation-of-one-harley-quinn.md)
- *Succession* (2018), series, Director — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/succession.md)
- *Dead Pigs* (2018), Director, Writer
- *Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang* (2017), Producer
- *According to My Mother* (2016), Director, Screenplay
- *Down River* (2016), Director, Writer
- *The Stars The Sun The Moon* (2014), Producer
- *Groomed* (2013), Producer
- *Last Night* (2013), Director, Writer
- *Sour Hearts*, Director, Screenplay
- *The Freshening*, Producer, Director, Writer

## Gallery

- ![Cathy Yan](https://film.one/media/person/731/gallery-3e7eb8b18c48.jpg) Cathy Yan — Lega Nerd, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Cathy_Yan%2C_January_2020.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Director Cathy Yan at The Gallerist premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2026](https://film.one/media/person/731/gallery-45fc3d9ab737.jpg) Director Cathy Yan at The Gallerist premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2026 — Jennifer 8. Lee, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Director_Cathy_Yan_at_The_Gallerist_Sundance_2026_Premiere_01.jpg/1280px-Director_Cathy_Yan_at_The_Gallerist_Sundance_2026_Premiere_01.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Director Cathy Yan at The Gallerist premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2026](https://film.one/media/person/731/gallery-94d2a4599c82.jpg) Director Cathy Yan at The Gallerist premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2026 — Jennifer 8. Lee, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Director_Cathy_Yan_at_The_Gallerist_Sundance_2026_Premiere_01_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Director_Cathy_Yan_at_The_Gallerist_Sundance_2026_Premiere_01_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Other awards — 1 won

- Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Acting 2018: Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Acting (won), for *Dead Pigs*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/cathy-yan