Mr Wong Kar Wai

1958-

Director

One of the most recognised Hong Kong directors worldwide, Wong Kar Wai was born in Shanghai and moved to Hong Kong at age five. He enrolled in the directing and scripting course at TVB in 1981 and, upon graduation, became an assistant director at the television station. He also began writing screenplays. The film that established his reputation was Days of Being Wild (1990), a work he wrote and directed. It won Best Film and Best Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards and was favourably reviewed at many film festivals, which led to Wong’s name becoming known internationally. Likewise, Chungking Express (1994) garnered Best Film and Best Director at the Hong Kong Films Award in 1994. Subsequent works such as Ashes of Time (1994) and Fallen Angels (1995) were screened at important film festivals around the world. Wong’s signature style and unmistakable aesthetics went down well with international critics and audiences alike. In 1997, Happy Together (1997) made Wong the first Chinese filmmaker to score a Best Director win at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2000, In the Mood for Love bagged the Technical Grand Prize at Cannes. Wong’s more recent work, The Grandmaster (2013), scooped Best Film and Best Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards. In 2013, he was honoured with the Commander (Highest Degree) of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Ministry of Culture of France. Wong was named a recipient of the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong Government in 2001.