Cao Cuifen was born in Shanghai, China on April 6, 1944. [1 ] She was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy prep school in 1960 and the undergraduate program in 1962.
Raise the Red Lantern received widespread critical acclaim. It was entered into the 48th Venice International Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Golden Lion and won the Silver Lion.
After her breakout role in Zhang Yimou's The Road Home (1999), which won her Best Actress at the 2000 Hundred Flowers Awards, she gained international fame for her performance in Ang Lee's wuxia film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).
She made her acting debut in the drama film The Eighth Clay Man (2006), and has since gone on to appear in numerous movie and film titles such as Mr. Donkey (2016) and Looking Up (2019).[ citation needed]