Hao Zhou is a filmmaker from southwest China. Exploring queer themes and overlooked spaces, Zhou’s films have been screened at the Berlinale, Locarno, SXSW, Hot Docs, Hong Kong, BlackStar, Images Festival, and Frameline among other international film festivals.
In 2014, Zhou made their first feature, The Night, about young, queer sex workers in China. Premiering at the Berlinale, The Night won top prizes at Black Movie, Nara, China Independent, and others. In 2017, Zhou associate-produced a stage adaptation of The Night, performed to critical acclaim at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre. 
In 2021, Zhou made a Student Academy Award-winning short film, Frozen Out.  In 2023, Zhou's short doc Here, Hopefully was distributed by PBS, won Best Short at Doc10, and is among Vimeo’s 2024 Best of Staff Picks. In 2024, Zhou's short documentary Wouldn't Make It Any Other Way premiered at SXSW and won Jury Prizes at Aspen Shortsfest, Indy Shorts, IFFBoston, and DOXA. Their latest narrative short Like What Would Sorrow Look premiered in 2024 Locarno’s Corti d’Autori competition. 
An alum of Cannes’ Résidence, Berlinale Talents, and Talents Tokyo, Zhou has made work with funding from ITVS, IF/Then × Hulu, Firelight Media/CAAM, Forecast, Talents Tokyo/TOKYO FILMeX, Art With Impact, Frameline, and other organizations.
Currently Zhou is in production and postproduction on multiple projects, both narrative and nonfiction.