Mao Chenyu (lives and works in Shanghai) is the founder of Paddyfilm. Since 2003, he has been working around the area of Dongting Lake Watershed on the project Paddyfilm. In 2012, Mao founded the experimental social platform Paddyfilm-farm in Hunan, which investigates and analyzes rural societies in China. Thirty paddy fields have been transformed into self-sufficient farming systems, which nurture the linguistic and film practices of Paddyfilm. In 2015, Mao set up a private Elaphurus Davidianus University within Paddyfilm-farm to carry out social research and education as a kind of institutional practice.