Rex is a writer-director working across narrative, experimental, and documentary cinema. Many of his films are interested in the inexplicable. When the “why” fails, the body, mind, and spirit move in their own ways, strange as they are, telling of humanity, of alienation. He is currently pursuing an MFA in Film and Video at CalArts after earning his B.A. in film studies and creative writing from Johns Hopkins University.
rexxiao@students.calarts.edu
(667) 910-2830
6702 Vineland Ave, Apt 23
North Hollywood, CA 91606
Publication:
“Learning the Unfamiliar: The Role of Language in Han Kang’s ‘The Middle Voice,’” East Asian Studies Forum and Review. Summer 2025.
PJAS, Winter 2025: Photograph featured.
“Venice as Metaphor,” John Addington Symonds Project, Fall 2024.
“Accidents in Literature: The Awakenings of Two Young Men,” John Addington Symonds Project, Fall 2024.
No Title Online Photo Exhibition, Decagon Gallery: Photograph featured.
“The Zen-like Shampoo,” The Warehouse, Spring 2023.
“Lustrous and Lost,” The Warehouse, Spring 2023.
“Conditional Sentences for Beauty Products,” The Warehouse, Spring 2023.
Out of the Blue Jay, Autumn 2022: Photographs featured on the front and back covers.
In the Media:
“FMS Students Serve as First Readers for the 2025 Baltimore Screenwriters Competition,” by JHU Program in Film and Media Studies, March 7, 2025.
“Rex (Youjian) Xiao: Researching and Animating Midcentury Romance Comics,” by Joseph Plaster & Rex Youjian Xiao, May 29, 2024.
“FMS Students Serve as First Readers for the 2024 Baltimore Screenwriters Competition,” by JHU Program in Film and Media Studies, April 17, 2024.
“Second & Third Year Japanese Students in Action,” by Makiko Nakao & Rex Youjian Xiao, Center for Language Education Newsletter (p.10), Spring 2024.
“Summer Study Abroad Scholarship Recipients,” by Rex Youjian Xiao, Center for Language Education Newsletter (p.7), Fall 2023.