# Rina Yang

Rina Yang BSC (born 1986) is a British cinematographer based in London. She became the first Asian woman to join the British Society of Cinematographers and was named a 2020 BAFTA Breakthrough. She was also the first woman cinematographer to be nominated for a BAFTA Cymru for fiction. She won a VMA for her work on Taylor Swift's "Anti-Hero".

## Early life

Born to a Korean family, Yang grew up in Japan. As a creative child, her mother encouraged her to take up still life and portrait painting; she became interested in film at 16. Yang initially intended to study economics at university, but was inspired to leave Japan at 20 by a friend who lived in England and pursue a creative field. She graduated from the Met Film School with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Practical Filmmaking, awarded by the University of West London.

## Career

From 2012 to 2015, Yang began her career doing music videos for a number of folk, rock and electric artists. Her portfolio expanded significantly in 2016 to the likes of Corrine Bailey Rae, Blossoms and FKA Twigs. This included Raye's music video "I U US" directed by Charli XCX. The following year, Yang reunited with Raye for "You Don't Know Me" with Jax Jones and with FKA Twigs for one of several Nike campaigns Yang worked on. Yang also worked with artists such as Dua Lipa, Zara Larsson, Niall Horan, and Björk, and Sam Fender across 2017 and 2018.
Yang was credited with additional photography on the Channel 4 comedy-drama The End of the F***ing World (2017), marking her first television project, and had her first feature film project as second unit director of photography on the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (2018). She earned a BAFTA Cymru nomination for her work on the Through the Gates installment of the anthology On the Edge (2018).
In 2019, Yang worked on three episodes of the Netflix crime drama Top Boy for its third series. She reunited with FKA Twigs for the music videos "Cellophane" and "Home with You", Charli XCX for "2099" with Troye Sivan, as well as Dua Lipa in 2020 for two tracks with Madonna. Yang filmed Stella Corradi's BBC One film Sitting in Limbo (2020) on the Windrush scandal as well as Nadia Hallgren's documentary Becoming.
Yang appeared on the British Vogue list of 12 Young Creatives in 2021 and joined the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) in 2022. Yang began working with Taylor Swift on All Too Well: The Short Film (2021), earning Yang her MTV VMA nomination. Yang was invited back for Swift's Midnights music videos the following year and won a VMA for "Anti-Hero". Also in 2022, she gained prominence as cinematographer of an episode of the HBO drama Euphoria and Nikyatu Jusu's psychological horror film Nanny. Yang further went into film with The Fire Inside (2024), for which she earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

## Artistry

In an interview, Yang named the Coen brothers' Fargo (1996), Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbour Totoro (1988), Yasujirō Ozu's Tokyo Story (1953), and Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express (1994) as some of her favourite films.

## Personal life

As of 2019, Yang was based in Clapton, East London.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 2016 | Lost Youth | Taichi Kimura | Short film |
| 2017 | Baby Mine | Nour Wazzi | Short film |
| 2018 | Bohemian Rhapsody | Bohemian Rhapsody | As second unit d.o.p |
| 2019 | Kiss of the Rabbit God | Andrew Thomas Huang | Short film |
| 2020 | Becoming | Nadia Hallgren | Documentary |
| 2020 | Actress | Daisy Lewis | Short film |
| 2022 | Nanny | Nikyatu Jusu | |
| 2024 | The Fire Inside | Rachel Morrison | |
| 2025 | O'Dessa | Geremy Jasper | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 2017 | The End of the F***ing World | Jonathan Entwistle | 2 episodes; as additional photography |
| 2018 | On the Edge | Stella Corradi | Anthology: Through the Gates |
| 2019 | Top Boy | Aneil Karia | 3 episodes |
| 2020 | Sitting in Limbo | Stella Corradi | Television film |
| 2021 | Super. Human. | | Short |
| 2022 | Euphoria | Sam Levinson | Episode: "A Thousand Little Trees of Blood" |

### Music videos

| Song | Year | Artist | Notes |
| "Life Size Ghosts" | 2012 | Mt Wolf | |
| "Shapeshift" | 2013 | Mt Wolf | |
| "Hypoflight" | 2013 | Mt Wolf | |
| "The Village" | 2013 | Tunng | |
| "Midnight Shallows" | 2013 | Mt Wolf | |
| "Nothing Stays the Same" | 2014 | Luke Sital-Singh | |
| "Last Orders" | 2014 | Nothing but Thieves | |
| "Who You Love" | 2014 | Kindess feat Robyn | |
| "I'll Be Back" | 2015 | Kindness | |
| "Bad Boyfriend" | 2015 | Spector | |
| "Red" | 2015 | Mt Wolf | |
| "Till the End" | 2015 | Lucy Rose | |
| "Love the Jobs You Hate" | 2015 | Honne | |
| "London Bars" | 2015 | Chase & Status | |
| "It Gets Cold" | 2015 | Eliza and the Bear | |
| "Be Apart" | 2016 | Porches | |
| "Green Aphrodisiac" | 2016 | Corinne Bailey Rae | |
| "In My Car" | 2016 | Gold Panda | |
| "Kicks" | 2016 | Lauren Aquilina | |
| "All Four Walls" | 2016 | Gorgon City feat Vaults | |
| "Milk & Honey" | 2016 | Billie Marten | |
| "At Night" | 2016 | MNEK | |
| "Charlemagne" | 2016 | Blossoms | |
| "Weekend" | 2016 | Louis the Child and Icona Pop | |
| "UDSM" | 2016 | Kloe | |
| "Liability" | 2016 | Kloe | |
| "Good Together" | 2016 | Honne | |
| "I, U, US" | 2016 | Raye | Directed by Charli XCX |
| "Not Gonna Break Me" | 2016 | Jamie N. Commons | |
| "Prima Donna" | 2016 | Vince Staples | |
| "Take Me for a Ride" | 2016 | Holy Oysters | |
| "ROOMs" | 2016 | FKA Twigs | |
| "Copper Kiss" | 2016 | Sälen | |
| "Garden" | 2016 | Emeli Sandé | |
| "Dye My Hair" | 2016 | Alma | |
| "Scared to Be Lonely" | 2017 | Martin Garrix and Dua Lipa | |
| "Thinking 'Bout You" | 2017 | Dua Lipa | |
| "In the Morning" | 2017 | Nao | |
| "You Don't Know Me" | 2017 | Jax Jones feat Raye | |
| "On My Mind" | 2017 | Disciples | |
| "Don't Let Me Be Yours" | 2017 | Zara Larsson | |
| "Sun of Jean" | 2017 | Loyle Carner | |
| "Too Much to Ask" | 2017 | Niall Horan | |
| "Arisen My Senses" | 2017 | Björk | |
| "In My View" | 2018 | Young Fathers | |
| "Blue Lights" | 2018 | Jorja Smith | |
| "Street Fighter Mas" | 2018 | Kamasi Washington | |
| "Dead Boys" | 2018 | Sam Fender | As camera operator |
| "Pure Water" | 2018 | Skepta | |
| "Cellophane" | 2019 | FKA Twigs | Live at the Wallace Collection |
| "2099" | 2019 | Charli XCX feat Troye Sivan | |
| "Home With You" | 2019 | FKA Twigs | |
| "Rocket Fuel" | 2019 | DJ Shadow feat De La Soul | |
| "Levitating (The Blessed Madonna Remix)" | 2020 | Dua Lipa feat Madonna | |
| "Club Future Nostalgia" | 2020 | Dua Lipa feat Madonna | |
| "Diamonds" | 2020 | Sam Smith | |
| "Savior Complex" | 2020 | Phoebe Bridgers | |
| All Too Well: The Short Film | 2021 | Taylor Swift | |
| "Anti-Hero" | 2022 | Taylor Swift | |
| "Bejeweled" | 2022 | Taylor Swift | |
| "Lavender Haze" | 2023 | Taylor Swift | |
| "Training Season" | 2024 | Dua Lipa | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2019 | BAFTA Cymru | Best Photography and Lighting | Through the Gates | Nominated |
| 2022 | MTV Video Music Awards | Best Cinematography | All Too Well: The Short Film | Nominated |
| 2023 | MTV Video Music Awards | Best Cinematography | "Anti-Hero" | Won |
| 2023 | Girls on Film Awards | Best Cinematographer | Nanny | Nominated |
| 2024 | British Arrows | British Arrows | Nike campaign | Bronze |
| 2024 | Camerimage | Golden Frog for Best Cinematography | The Fire Inside | Nominated |
| 2025 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Cinematography | The Fire Inside | Nominated |