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X I O N A

Filmmaker | Documentary Director | Researcher | Queer & Experimental Storytelling

Xiona Li is a Chinese trans-feminine filmmaker based between London and Beijing. Her work explores gender, identity, and intersectionality, often centering East Asian and queer experiences. She is the creator of Friction, an evolving series that documents transgender lives and resistance in China. Her works include the upcming Erosion (2025), and Friction (2024), The Artist (2021), and Tropical Night (2021).

Xiona’s filmmaking blends documentary with experimental techniques, using AI, 3D conceptual imagery, and philosophical inquiry to create nuanced, embodied narratives. Through her practice, she seeks to challenge dominant forms of representation and open up new visual languages for complex identities. 

Work Hightlights

Friction - Short Documentary Trailer

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.

ualshowcase.arts.co.uk
KINEMA streaming
Serene lake landscape with tree-covered hills and a small boat on the water
A black silhouette of a military helicopter flying over mountains and clouds
A black-and-white graphic design featuring a laurel wreath surrounding text that reads 'Official Selection Aesthetic Short Film Festival 2025.'

Review from YOUKI JURY:

"As moving image producers ourselves we share a deep scepticism towards AI generated imagery. And still, this film impressed us by its clever use of artificially generated imagery. The protagonist's analyses of societal segregation is accentuated by the technology’s need to yet again force gender onto our anonymized storyteller. FRICTION uncovers skillfully the deep rooted gender binary around and within us that also shapes the technologies to come."

- (YOUKI Jury 2025) Fredi Klutas, Ennio Rocca, Andrea Elaiza Arnold and Isa Schieche

Review from MAKE NEWS:

"Brilliantly original and intersectional. Xiona Li's use of generative media is expressive, not performative-making this one of the most innovative and resonant pieces. It's a meditation on identity, surveillance, and reclamation. The writing and pacing are razor-sharp. Some of the cinematography is minimalist, but with intent. This is art with teeth. My top recommendation."

MALAKAI, MAKE NEWS JUDGEl

Stylized black and white logo with the word "EROSION" in a wavy font.

Up-Coming:

A black, glossy, humanoid female figure sitting on the ground amidst concrete blocks, with a white mannequin head mounted on the wall above and to the right.

Short Experimental Documentary

Four trans women social worker's testimonies —individuals in crisis and frontline interventionists in mainland China —echo through AI-generated mannequins trapped in eroding mazes, revealing the mental and emotional cost of surviving in gender-opposing environments without formal support.

More Info on EROSION
Close-up of a metallic sculpture of a woman's face with closed eyes, covered in flowing black and gold details, with a subtitle in yellow text that reads 'I WILL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH YOU.'.
A reflective silver mannequin of a nude female walking down a stone-paved corridor with large black and silver abstract sculptures on either side. Subtitles at the bottom read 'BY THEIR FAMILIES OR KICKED OUT.'
Silhouette of a woman standing in a dimly lit hallway with warm, orange lighting, and shelves on the walls. Text overlay says 'In feminist theories about the body.'

Past Works:

Wake Up - Short Documentary Trailer

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.

wakeupevent.co.uk

A Date with the Ocean - Experimental Doc Short

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.

UNESCO ocean decade challenge
ualshowcase.arts.co.uk

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.

imdb.com
letterboxd

Tropical Night - Short Film

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.

imdb.com

Full Filmography:

Click on Poster for More Details

Poster with the text "To be or not to be? Body, Gender, and Being Trans". It features a side profile of a person with short dark hair, wearing black, and a white silhouette of a person in front of them. The word "f r i c t i o n" is written vertically on the left side in red and orange letters. The poster includes credits for a film or project, mentioning director Xiona Li, supervisors Iris Wakulenko and Jeremy Williams, featuring Yuqi Zhang, and AI assistance from goenhance.ai and krea.ai. The logo of the University of London's College of Communication is at the bottom.

Fritcion

short documentary (2024)

A woman with elaborate makeup and sea-themed accessories, including a pearl necklace and shell details, wearing a crown made of sea creatures, with the text "A Date with the Ocean" displayed on the image.

A Date with the Ocean

experimental short (2024)

A movie poster for 'The Artist' showing a person sitting on a stool with their back to the camera in a dark tunnel with bright light above. The poster is surrounded by various portrait paintings of people on the wall.

The Artist

Poster for a film titled 'Tropical Night' featuring a young woman with dark hair looking down, with colorful lanterns hanging above in the background.

drama feature (2021)

Tropical Night

drama short film (2021)

A promotional poster for a concert featuring a woman playing the piano. The poster contains images of a person's profile and ear, with text in Chinese describing the event details, date, time, location, and ticket information.

White Piano

dreama feature film (2017)

A young man in a red plaid shirt with closed eyes, holding a skateboard with the words "UNDER STREETLIGHT" written on it in black vertical letters.

Under the Streetlight

drama short film (2016)

Screenings

Friction (2024)

Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York, Nov 2025

Make News: Short Film Showcase, The American Cinematheque, Los Angelos, Nov 2025

Make News: Short Film Showcase, LOOK Dine-in Cinema, Atlanta, June 2025

Make News: Short Film Showcase, Angelika Film Centre, New York City, June 2025

Trans Video Buffet, Atlas Cinema, London, May 2025.

Unrestricted View Film Festival, Hens & Chicken Cinema, London, May 2025

Muchroom Queer Bar Event, Muchroom, Chengdu, March 2025

A Date with the Ocean (2024)

Earth Week Exhibition, London College of Communication, London, Apr 2024

White Piano (2017)

Private Event, Green Mountain Cafe, Beijing, Dec 2017

Under the Streetlight (2016)

Royal Holloway University of London, Lecture Theatre. London, March 2019

Private Event, Green Mountain Cafe, Beijing, Nov 2016