Institut des hautes études cinématographiques
In 1984, Dai left China for France on a scholarship to study at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques. There, he acquired a passion for movies and became a director. Before turning to writing, he made three critically acclaimed feature-length films: "China, My Sorrow" (1989) (original title: "Chine, ma douleur"), "Le mangeur de lune" (Moon Eater) and "Tang, le onzième" (The Eleventh Child). He also wrote and directed an adaptation of his novel, "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress", released in 2002. He lives in Paris and writes in French.