Chinese directors/actors
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Wang Xiaoshuai (Director, Writer, Producer)
Wang Xiaoshuai is one of very few masters who remains true to his art in spite of rampant commercialism in the Chinese film market. Evoking the trauma of ordinary Chinese people caught in extraordinary times, his works span different eras, yet consistently reflect a strong social conscience.
Born in 1966, he was a graduate of Beijing Film Academy. At 27, he emerged as one of the key Sixth Generation directors with his debut feature The Days (1993) ,it was selected as one of the best 100 films of all time by the BBC in 1995. He followed up with Frozen (1996) and So Close to Paradise (1998), the later premiering in the Un certain regard section in Cannes. Wang's gritty depiction of listless youth in a time of bewildering social changes earned him international critical acclaim, but none of his early films could be officially released at home. Beijing Bicycle (2001) won the Grand Jury Silver Bear in Competition at the Berlinale, for a stunningly fresh image of Chinese teenagers negotiating the class gap in a new age of materialism.
Wang's works have competed in Cannes Film Festival four times, three times in the Berlinale, and also at Venice and San Sebastian film festivals. For his artistic accomplishments, he has received many distinguished honors notably the Grand Jury Prize for Shanghai Dreams (2005) in the Cannes Main Competition and the Berlinale Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for In Love We Trust (2008). His recent work Red Amnesia (2014) was selected in competition for the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival, and the latest title So Long, My Son (2019) won two Silver Bears for the Best Actor and Actress at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival, both examine the far-reaching consequences of the past on the present.
Filmography The Days (1993) Frozen (1996) So Close to Paradise (1998) Suburban Dreams (2000) Beijing Bicycle (2001) Drifters (2003) Shanghai Dreams (2005) In Love We Trust (2008) Chongqing Blues (2010) 11 Flowers (2011) Red Amnesia (2014) So Long, My Son (2019) Documentary: Chinese Portrait (2018) Short film: After the War (2001) The Cornfield (2015) Reflection (2017)- Director
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Yuan Zhang was born in October 1963 in Nanjing, China. He is a director and producer, known for Kan shang qu hen mei (2006), Seventeen Years (1999) and East Palace, West Palace (1996).- Director
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- Producer
Quan'an Wang was born in Yan'an in 1965. A graduate from the 1991 Beijing Film Academy promotion, he belongs to what has been called the "sixth generation" of Chinese directors. From 1999 to 2009, he shared his life with actress Nan Yu, with whom he made his first four movies : "Yue shi" (Lunar Eclipse), in 1999; "Jing zhe", in 2004; "Tuya de hun shi" (Tuya's Marriage), in 2006; "Fang zhi gu niang"(Weaving Girl), in 2009. His first film without his muse, "Tuan yuan" (Apart Together), released in 2010, is the touching chronicle of the attempted reunion of a husband and wife after five decades of separation. This minimalist movie was followed by an expensive and ambitious filmed version of Zhongshi Chen's novel, "Bai Lu yuan", long deemed unadaptable. Wang Quan'an, one of China's best talents, was rewarded twice at the Berlin International Film Festival (with the Gold Bear in 2007 for "Tuya's Marriage", and the Best Writer Silver Bear in 2010 for "Apart Together").- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Zhangke Jia was born on 24 May 1970 in Fenyang, Shanxi, China. He is a producer and director, known for Ash Is Purest White (2018), A Touch of Sin (2013) and Mountains May Depart (2015). He has been married to Tao Zhao since 7 January 2012.- Director
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jianjun He was born in 1960 in Peking, China. He is a director and writer, known for Postman (1995), Hu die de wei xiao (2001) and Man yan (2004).- Director
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- Producer
Lu Chuan is considered one of the most talented young directors in China, and his films are known for daring and commercially successful takes on historical and social issues.
After receiving a Master's degree in film studies from Beijing Film Academy in 1998, Lu Chuan started as a co-writer for Black Hole, which became one of most-watched TV series in China. His directional debut, The Missing Gun (2002), a black comedy about a small-town policeman who searches desperately for his missing gun, was presented at Cannes, Venice, and Sundance. It won Best Script at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Best Maiden Work Award at the College Student Film Festival of China.
Lu Chuan's second feature, Kekexili, (or Mountain Patrol, 2004), won praised from critics around the world. Lu Chuan used his beautiful and tense style to show the heroism of the Tibetan volunteers who fought poachers to protect the endangered Tibetan antelope. The film turned Lu Chuan into one of the most popular directors in China with great commercial value in the Chinese film market. It won numerous awards including the Special Jury Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival, Best Picture and Best Cinematography at the Golden Horse Awards, Best Film (shared) at the Golden Rooster Awards, the Don Quixote Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, Outstanding Film and Outstanding Director at the Huabiao Film Awards, and Best Asian Film at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Lu Chuan was then chosen a juror at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
Lu Chuan worked on his third film, City of Life and Death (2009), for four years. This epic film brought to the screen the story of the Nanjing Massacre by Japan during WWII in China. The director's unique take on the massacre attracted over 3 million viewers and made $30 million domestically, making him the fifth director in China to pass the 100 million RMB mark ($16 million USD). It won for Best Director and Best Cinematographer at the Asian Film Awards, Best Cinematography at the Golden Horse Film Awards, Best Film at the Oslo Film Festival, Achievement in Directing and Achievement in Cinematography at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, and Golden Shell prize and Best Cinematography at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
In 2012, Lu Chuan released The Last Supper, based on the fall of the Qin dynasty and the founding of the Han dynasty, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2015, he released Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe, a 3D action adventure film which made $106 million USD at the Chinese box office. His newest film, Born in China, is a Disneynature feature to be release worldwide in 2016-2017.- Director
- Producer
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Born in 1954 in Pingtung, Taiwan, Ang Lee has become one of today's greatest contemporary filmmakers. Ang graduated from the National Taiwan College of Arts in 1975 and then came to the U.S. to receive a B.F.A. Degree in Theatre/Theater Direction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Masters Degree in Film Production at New York University. At NYU, he served as Assistant Director on Spike Lee's student film, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983). After Lee wrote a couple of screenplays, he eventually appeared on the film scene with Pushing Hands (1991), a dramatic-comedy reflecting on generational conflicts and cultural adaptation, centering on the metaphor of the grandfather's Tai-Chi technique of "Pushing Hands". The Wedding Banquet (1993) (aka The Wedding Banquet) was Lee's next film, an exploration of cultural and generational conflicts through a homosexual Taiwanese man who feigns a marriage in order to satisfy the traditional demands of his Taiwanese parents. It garnered Golden Globe and Oscar nominations, and won a Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. The third movie in his trilogy of Taiwanese-Culture/Generation films, all of them featuring his patriarch figure Sihung Lung, was Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) (aka Eat Drink Man Woman), which received a Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination. Lee followed this with Sense and Sensibility (1995), his first Hollywood-mainstream movie. It acquired a Best Picture Oscar nomination, and won Best Adapted Screenplay, for the film's screenwriter and lead actress, Emma Thompson. Lee was also voted the year's Best Director by the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle. Lee and frequent collaborator James Schamus next filmed The Ice Storm (1997), an adaptation of Rick Moody's novel involving 1970s New England suburbia. The movie acquired the 1997 Best Screenplay at Cannes for screenwriter James Schamus, among other accolades. The Civil War drama Ride with the Devil (1999) soon followed and received critical praise, but it was Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) (aka Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) that is considered one of his greatest works, a sprawling period film and martial-arts epic that dealt with love, loyalty and loss. It swept the Oscar nominations, eventually winning Best Foreign Language Film, as well as Best Director at the Golden Globes, and became the highest grossing foreign-language film ever released in America. Lee then filmed the comic-book adaptation, Hulk (2003) - an elegantly and skillfully made film with nice action scenes. Lee has also shot a short film - Chosen (2001) (aka Hire, The Chosen) - and most recently won the 2005 Best Director Academy Award for Brokeback Mountain (2005), a film based on a short story by Annie Proulx. In 2012 Lee directed Life of Pi which earned 11 Academy Award nominations and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Director. In 2013 Ang Lee was selected as a member of the main competition jury at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.- Actor
- Music Department
- Producer
Tony Leung Chiu Wai was born in Hong Kong on 27 June 1962. He and his younger sister were raised by their mother after his father left them. In 1982, after passing the training courses of TVB, Tony became a TV actor and became famous for his comedy style in such TV shows as Tales of a Eunuch (1983) or The Proud Twins (1979). However, he didn't limit himself to television and began showing his versatility in films like My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (1989) and A City of Sadness (1989). After he starred in several movies directed by 'Kar wai Wong'; such as Chungking Express (1994) and Happy Together (1997), he gained more respect as an actor and finally received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes International Film Festival for his outstanding performance in In the Mood for Love (2000). In addition to his acting career, he is also known as a singer.- Actress
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- Director
Ziyi Zhang is a Chinese actress and model. She is best known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Rush Hour 2 (2001), Hero (2002), House of Flying Daggers (2004), and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005).
She made her feature film debut in The Road Home (1999).
For her work in Memoirs of a Geisha she was nominated for an Golden Globe for Best Actress.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Maggie Cheung was born on September 20, 1964, in Hong Kong, and moved at the age of eight with her family to England. After finishing secondary school, she returned to Hong Kong, where she began modeling and appearing in commercials. In 1983 she participated in the Ms. Hong Kong pageant, winning first runner-up, which proved not to be a detriment since she went on to become a star of both Hong Kong television and film.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Tang Wei was born on 7 October 1979 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China. She is an actress, known for Lust, Caution (2007), Decision to Leave (2022) and Blackhat (2015). She has been married to Kim Tae-yong since 12 July 2014. They have one child.- Actress
- Producer
- Music Department
Zhou Xun is an internationally acclaimed Chinese actress and singer.
She caught international attention through her roles in Lou Ye's Suzhou River in 2000 and Dai Sijie's film adaption of the book of same name Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress in 2002. In 2003, she starred in the television remake of Jinyong's novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes as "Huang Rong" with actor Li Yapeng. Zhou then successfully entered the Hong Kong film market in Peter Chan's Perhaps Love in 2005. This role gained her the Best Actress award in the Hong Kong Film Awards. Aside from acting, she has also released solo albums in 2003 titled "Summer" and in 2005 "Come Across", and sang for "Baober In Love," "Xin Bian Guo Le Xi San Meng You Xian Jing," and "Perhaps Love" motion picture soundtracks.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Jun Hu was born on 18 March 1968 in Beijing, China. He is an actor and producer, known for Red Cliff (2008), Hunting (2020) and Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (2003). He has been married to Fang Lu since 1 May 1999. They have two children.- Actor
- Music Department
- Writer
Leslie Cheung was the youngest of 10 children. His father was tailor to the late William Holden. Leslie's parents divorced when he was young, and he claims this is one reason for his disinterest in marriage. Following graduation from secondary school, he studied at Leeds University in Great Britain. Upon his return to Hong Kong, he entered the 1976 ATV Asian Music Contest, where he took second prize. He went on to perform on stage, television and in teeny-bopper movies. It wasn't until he was cast in the role of "Kit" in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow (1986) that his acting career took off; he has since performed in some of the best-known Hong Kong movies of the last decade, working under the direction of such directors as Kaige Chen, Kar-Wai Wong, Hark Tsui and, of course, Woo. Leslie emigrated to Canada in 1992, but soon returned to Hong Kong, demonstrating his intention to remain past the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China through his purchase of real estate and opening of a coffee shop in the colony.
Leslie jumped from the landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel in the central business district early in the evening on 1st April 2003, leaving a suicide note that was found on the body.