15 Top Hong Kong Directors 1990-2009
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Tsui Hark recently became the fourth Chinese film director to join the board of judges for the 57th Cannes Film Festival in the feature films category this year.
An internationally acclaimed visionary director, Tsui started making experimental movies with 8mm film when he was only 13. After graduating from the University of Texas in Austin, majoring in film, he returned to Hong Kong in 1977 and landed a job working in television. In 1979 he directed his film debut, The Butterfly Murders (1979). It raised a lot of attention, and was hailed by many as the start of a new wave in Hong Kong cinema. After making numerous critically and successful films, he co-founded his own production house, Film Workshop, with his wife, Nansun Shi, in 1984. Although the company was intended to be contemporary, it went on to become one of the most successful production companies in Hong Kong, having produced such classics of Hong Kong cinema as _Sinnui yauwan (1987)_ and A Better Tomorrow (1986), which was directed by John Woo and starred the amazing Chow Yun-Fat.
Considered the master of kung-fu action films, Tsui Hark's The Swordsman (1990), _Xiao ao jiang hu zhi dong fang bu bai (1991)_, Dragon Inn (1992) and Once Upon a Time in China (1991) created a new era and standard for the "wuxia" genre that has now become a trend in filmmaking.- Director
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Born in China in 1947, Ann Hui moved to Hong Kong when she was still in her youth. After graduating in English and Comparative Literature from Hong Kong University, she spent two years at the London Film School. Returning to Hong Kong, she worked as an assistant to director King Hu before joining TVB to direct drama series and short documentaries. In 1978, she directed three episodes for the RTHK series Si ji san ha (1972). After that, she directed her debut feature The Secret (1979).- Director
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Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1956) is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylised, emotionally resonant work, including Ah fei zing zyun (1990), Dung che sai duk (1994), Chung Hing sam lam (1994), Do lok tin si (1995), Chun gwong cha sit (1997), 2046 (2004) and My Blueberry Nights (2007), Yi dai zong shi (2013). His film Fa yeung nin wa (2000), starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung, garnered widespread critical acclaim. Wong's films frequently feature protagonists who yearn for romance in the midst of a knowingly brief life and scenes that can often be described as sketchy, digressive, exhilarating, and containing vivid imagery. Wong was the first Chinese director to win the Best Director Award of Cannes Film Festival (for his work Chun gwong cha sit in 1997). Wong was the President of the Jury at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, which makes him the only Chinese person to preside over the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. He was also the President of the Jury at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2013. In 2006, Wong accepted the National Order of the Legion of Honour: Knight (Highest Degree) from the French Government. In 2013, Wong accepted Order of Arts and Letters: Commander (Highest Degree) by the French Minister of Culture.- Director
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With over thirty directing and producing credits to his name, Johnnie To enjoyed international breakthroughs with Election (2005), Election 2 (2006) (aka "Triad Election") and Exiled (2006); those films enjoyed multiple international film festival appearances and were separately sold to more than 21 foreign territories (including theatrical distributions in France and USA).
Stretching from the height of the Hong Kong New Wave right up to today, über-filmmaker Johnnie To could be considered an institution in the former British colony. Johnnie To's Milky Way production company, which he formed in partnership with frequent collaborator Wai Ka-fai in 1996, has become the de facto hallmark of quality filmmaking in Hong Kong since the Handover in 1997. His filmography is an eclectic collection of films from almost every genre and featuring almost every major Hong Kong film star, including classic films from the late Eighties and early Nineties including Heroic Trio (1993) & All About Ah-Long (1989), some ultra-cool crime-noir productions during the late Nineties; The Longest Night, Expect the Unexpected, and The Mission. Romances; Loving You (1995) & Needing You (2000). As well as a number of crowd-pleasing comedies; Wu Yen (2001) and Love on a Diet (2001).
Unfortunately, the 'Jerry Bruckheimer of Hong Kong' has been in a creative and financial lull since 2001. In addition to facing diminishing box office returns stemming from the overall decline of the Hong Kong film industry, some of To's recent efforts have performed disappointingly, such as Fat Choi Spirit (2002), Full-Time Killer (2001), and Running Out of Time 2 (2001).
However, in 2003, the veteran filmmaker was back in fine form with the release of PTU (2003), a crime-noir thriller, and Running on Karma (2003), about a body builder/exotic dancer with special visions that helps a cop track a vicious killer. These were both award winners at the Hong Kong Film Awards that year. These were followed closely by Breaking News (2004) & Throw Down (2004), then Election (2005) and follow-up Election 2 (2006), the award nominated companion piece.- Writer
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In 1994, Pang Ho-cheung started his career in the media industry by working as a variety show scriptwriter for Asia Television. By this time, Pang was active in several media. He was working as a scriptwriter, a host for radio and television shows, a columnist, a magazine editor and a copywriter. He had also published several novels.
In 2001, Pang co-founded Making Film Productions. In the same year, he directed his feature-length directorial debut, YOU SHOOT, I SHOOT. Thus he began his career as an independent filmmaker, with him taking part in productions as actor, writer, director and producer.- Writer
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Jeffrey Lau is known for A Chinese Odyssey: Part 2 - Cinderella (1995), A Chinese Odyssey: Part One - Pandora's Box (1995) and Kung Fu Hustle (2004).- Actor
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Tung-Shing Yee was born on 28 December 1957 in Hong Kong. He is an actor and director, known for One Nite in Mongkok (2004), I Am Somebody (2015) and Shinjuku Incident (2009). He was previously married to Mandy Law.- Actor
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Vincent Kok was born on 15 August 1965 in Hong Kong. He is an actor and writer, known for Shaolin Soccer (2001), Mr. and Mrs. Incredible (2011) and You Shoot, I Shoot (2001).- Director
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After graduating from the University of Hong Kong with a major in English literature and psychology, did graduate work in drama and creative writing at Bristol University in England. Returned to Hong Kong in 1978 to become the chief writer and director at a Hong Kong TV station. In 1981, began further graduate work in the U.S., taking a Master's degree in film studies from New York University.- Producer
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Peter Ho-Sun Chan is a Chinese film director, producer and screenwriter. Regarded as one of the most accomplished and successful Hong Kong filmmakers, Chan has directed 18 films, including the critically acclaimed Comrades, Almost a Love Story, Perhaps Love, The Warlords, and American Dreams in China.
Chan is the son of Hong Kong film director turned newspaper columnist Chan Tung Man and mother Lam Man Ying. He spent his childhood years in the Tsim Sha Tsui section of Hong Kong, his teen years in Bangkok, Thailand, and studied film in Los Angeles during the early 1980s.
After working on several films as assistant director, Chan made his directorial debut with the award-winning Alan and Eric: Between Hello and Goodbye in 1991. Chan followed Alan and Eric with a string of popular box office successes, including He Ain't Heavy, He's My Father (1993), Tom, Dick and Hairy (1993), and He's a Woman, She's a Man (1994).
In 1996, Chan received international acclaim for Tian Mi Mi (1997 international release: Comrades, Almost a Love Story), a film about two mainland Chinese immigrants who fall in love and drift apart in pre-handover Hong Kong. Tian Mi Mi was not only a box office success, but also swept the 16th annual Hong Kong Film Awards, winning an unprecedented nine awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actress for Maggie Cheung. Time Magazine named Comrades one of the top ten films of 1997.
After Tian Mi Mi, Chan directed his first American production in coordination with DreamWorks SKG, 1999's The Love Letter starring Kate Capshaw, Tom Selleck and Ellen DeGeneres.
Chan's films of the nineties tend toward bittersweet romantic comedies that concern the hopes and struggles of Hong Kong Chinese couples on the cusp of the 21st century. At the advent of the 2000s, Chan expanded the scope of his creative projects to include both directing and producing a variety of films in new genres, including horror, war and a musical.
In 2000, Chan established Applause Pictures, a company dedicated to producing high quality Pan-Asian films intended primarily for Asian audiences. Films produced by Applause Pictures include Jan Dara (2001), One Fine Spring Day (2001), The Eye series (2002, 2004, 2005), Three (2002), Three...Extremes (2004), Golden Chicken (2002), Golden Chicken 2 (2003) and the animated McDull, The Alumni (2006).
In 2002, Chan directed Going Home, a segment of Three, a horror anthology showcasing three short features by prominent Asian directors. Notable directors featured in the Three anthologies include South Korea's Kim Jee-woon and Park Chan-wook, and Japan's Takashi Miike. Chan also produced the 2002 thriller The Eye, directed by Danny and Oxide Pang, a film later remade as an American production starring Jessica Alba.
Chan followed his exploration of the macabre with a turn in the opposite direction with 2005's Perhaps Love, a musical love story set in Shanghai and Beijing starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Jacky Cheung and Zhou Xun. The film closed the 2005 Venice Film Festival, and was Hong Kong's official entry for the 2006 Academy Awards.
After Perhaps Love came the historical war epic The Warlords (2007), starring Jet Li, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau. The gritty tale brotherhood and betrayal set during the Taiping Rebellion in 1860s China garnered 8 Hong Kong Film awards and 3 Golden Horse awards.
In contrast to the lavish production and epic scope of films like Perhaps Love and The Warlords, Chan's recent films are stories of hope, friendship and matters of the human heart, themes characteristic of his early work. With American Dreams in China (2013), a rags-to-riches story of three Chinese friends who achieve success teaching English to aspiring Chinese immigrants, and Dearest (2014), based on the true story of a divorced Chinese couple dealing with the abduction of their son, Chan demonstrates an ability to create socially-conscious, humanistic films that are also widely appealing to Chinese audiences.
Chan is one of the few Chinese filmmakers working today who can create popular entertainment that explores issues of social concern common to the ordinary Chinese citizen.- Director
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Leung Chun 'Samson' Chiu is known for When I Fall in Love... with Both (2000), Golden Chicken (2002) and Lo kong ching chuen (2007).- Director
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Born in southern China, John Woo grew up in Hong Kong, where he began his film career as an assistant director in 1969, working for Shaw Brothers Studios. He directed his first feature in 1973 and has been a prolific director ever since, working in a wide variety of genres before A Better Tomorrow (1986) established his reputation as a master stylist specializing in ultra-violent gangster films and thrillers, with hugely elaborate action scenes shot with breathtaking panache. After gaining a cult reputation in the US with The Killer (1989), Woo was offered a Hollywood contract. He now works in the US.- Director
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Stephen Chow was the only boy of his family, and has grown up as a Bruce Lee fan and a martial arts addict. His career started on TV, where he presented a children show ( "430 Space Shuttle" (1983)) and started becoming popular. He got some supporting roles, after that, and won the Taiwanese Golden Horse award for best supporting actor.
He had his first starring role in 1990 in a 'Chow Yun-Fat' spoof: All for the Winner (1990) - "All for the Winner" and started excelling in the comedy genre. In Hong-Kong, his particular nonsense style is called "Mo Lei Tau". It's also on the set of this movie that he encountered his fellow sidekick Man-Tat Ng.
One of the last HK biggest star which have not been bought by Hollywood, even if Miramax (who'll surely release Shaolin Soccer (2001) - "Shaolin Soccer" this year in the USA - after remastering it, ouch.) has probably planned something for him...- Director
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Chi Leung 'Jacob' Cheung was born on 6 September 1959 in Hong Kong. He is a director and actor, known for Cageman (1992), Battle of the Warriors (2006) and Beyond the Sunset (1989).