J.J. Cheng
- Writer
- Director
- Producer
J.J. Cheng (also known as Phoenixa Cheng) is an award-winning China-born Chinese American author and filmmaker, best known for her novel PHOENIXA: The Nest, recipient of the Literary Titan Gold Book Award (2026) and a Somerset Book Award Semi-Finalist (2025). She is the creator of the PHOENIXA Saga, a mythic literary work rooted in Chinese cosmology and a quest for peace, blending mystical realism, history, and metaphysical inquiry. Her flagship work, PHOENIXA: The Nest, is presented as a fully soundscaped, author-narrated audiobook and serves as the foundation for an upcoming feature film adaptation, marking the beginning of a multi-format narrative universe.
The PHOENIXA Saga, originally derived from Cheng’s film script and envisioned as a future cinematic franchise, comprises four literary volumes-The One (prequel), The Nest, The Flight, and The Return-a unified mythic arc from origin and awakening to transformation and destiny. Inspired by her pioneering grandfather from the Republic of China and her own lived experience growing up during the tumultuous Mao era, the saga unfolds as a cross-generational journey of memory, identity, and historical reckoning. Born in Beijing and educated in both China and the United States, Cheng began her career at China Central Television (CCTV), where she was among the early English-language broadcasters, serving as one of the first voices interpreting a changing China to the world. Her work spans journalism, film, and cross-border media initiatives, including collaborations with major networks and cultural institutions in both the United States and China. She has also worked as an intercultural film critic, and has served as a professor of cinema and television in both countries, a juror for international film festivals, and a cultural bridge between industries, representing literary and film works across global markets. Cheng’s work is rooted in independent auteurship, cultivating a literary and cinematic voice shaped by a poetic, meditative, and philosophical lens across her intercultural filmmaking in documentary and narrative cinema alike. Her film credits include the documentaries China Gold Rush (2000), Mama’s Gold: The Orphans of Shangri-La (2003), and Golden Lotus: The Legacy of Bound Feet (2006), along with Red Farewell: The Secret of Longevity (2019), and the experimental film C/O Butterfly: A Rhapsody of the Womb (2015). She is developing CHENG LEGACY: An Ancestral Quest for Modern China, a multipart companion documentary series to the PHOENIXA Saga, anchoring its mythic vision in history.
The PHOENIXA Saga, originally derived from Cheng’s film script and envisioned as a future cinematic franchise, comprises four literary volumes-The One (prequel), The Nest, The Flight, and The Return-a unified mythic arc from origin and awakening to transformation and destiny. Inspired by her pioneering grandfather from the Republic of China and her own lived experience growing up during the tumultuous Mao era, the saga unfolds as a cross-generational journey of memory, identity, and historical reckoning. Born in Beijing and educated in both China and the United States, Cheng began her career at China Central Television (CCTV), where she was among the early English-language broadcasters, serving as one of the first voices interpreting a changing China to the world. Her work spans journalism, film, and cross-border media initiatives, including collaborations with major networks and cultural institutions in both the United States and China. She has also worked as an intercultural film critic, and has served as a professor of cinema and television in both countries, a juror for international film festivals, and a cultural bridge between industries, representing literary and film works across global markets. Cheng’s work is rooted in independent auteurship, cultivating a literary and cinematic voice shaped by a poetic, meditative, and philosophical lens across her intercultural filmmaking in documentary and narrative cinema alike. Her film credits include the documentaries China Gold Rush (2000), Mama’s Gold: The Orphans of Shangri-La (2003), and Golden Lotus: The Legacy of Bound Feet (2006), along with Red Farewell: The Secret of Longevity (2019), and the experimental film C/O Butterfly: A Rhapsody of the Womb (2015). She is developing CHENG LEGACY: An Ancestral Quest for Modern China, a multipart companion documentary series to the PHOENIXA Saga, anchoring its mythic vision in history.
