With the development of the film in China, the First Generation Directors came into being. The First Generation Directors referred to the directors who were in the silent films period during early period of 20th century to the end of 20th century. They were often regarded as the pioneers of the Chinese film-making. They created many wonderful films in the simple, crude and hard conditions. During that period of time, they were lack of necessary instruments and many of them were short of experience. Under such circumstance, they created a series of feature films for the Chinese.

Many foreign students said they got to know something about the First Generation Director when they happened to learn Mandarin language in China. They introduced that there were about 100 persons of the First Generation Directors. The main representatives of them were Zheng Zhengqiu, Zhang Shichuan, Dan Duyu, Yang Xiaozhong and Shao Zuiweng, among whom Zheng Zhengqiu was the most famous and successful. They created the first short feature film, the first long feature story, the first sound motion feature film, the first swordsmen film, the first film about the labor class, the first sports film and the first series films. The films were influenced by New Culture Movement around the time of the May 4th Movement in 1919 and the films reflected the democracy thought of anti-feudalism.

Now let’s talk about something about one of the masters of the First Generation Directors, Zheng Zhengqiu. Zheng was born in year 1888 and died in year 1935. He created the first short feature film Die for Marriage and the first long feature film Victims of Opium. Many foreign students said the films made them get to know something about the Chinese culture and they knew something about the modern China. Zheng was a great director and he was possessed with more art opinions and sought more. He thought that the films should not only appeal to the appetite of the audience but also lead the audience to appreciate the films. His films were of strong features and the plot was wonderful.

The film Twin sisters was the product created by Zheng in the late production period. The film told a story of twin sisters who were grown up in two totally different environments. The film reflected the themes of class antagonism, the gap between the rich and the poor, the warfare between warlords and the life reality. The film attracted much audience and had been on for 60 days consistently.