Shu Kei
Birth : , Hong Kong
History
Shu Kei, whose real name is Kenneth Ip, was born in Hong Kong in 1956 and started writing film criticism while still in secondary school. After graduating from University of Hong Kong, majoring in English, he joined Commercial Television as a scriptwriter. After that station went out of business, Shu started working for Golden Harvest as scriptwriter and assistant director. He also founded Film Biweekly Magazine (later renamed City Entertainment) and acted as chief editor. Shu made his directorial debut in 1981 with Sealed with a Kiss, about a romance between two mentally handicapped youngsters. The film was marked by a refreshing departure from the glut of police dramas, horror films and black-magic movies that were flooding the market. Between 1981 and 1984, Shu was a programmer for the Hong Kong International Film Festival and, from 1984 to 1986, promotion manager for D & B Films. He directed his second feature, Soul, in 1986, which won the Best Cinematography prize at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Chris Doyle. In 1990, he directed the documentary Sunless Days for the Japanese television station NHK, which was awarded the OCIC Award at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival and the Jury Award at the Rimini Film Festival in Italy. His other works include Hu-Du-Men (1996), which won Best Actress awards for star Josephine Siao at several film festivals, including the 41st Asia Pacific Film Festival, the 33rd Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan and the 2nd Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards. Shu became a director through writing criticism. While film schooleducated directors like Ann Hui and Tsui Hark are representative of the first generation of young filmmakers who took Hong Kong cinema on a new direction, Shu Kei is considered a key member of the second generation. In addition to directing, Shu also took up distribution, founding Shu Kei’s Creative Workshop, which had promoted and distributed over 200 art films and non-mainstream works, such as Blue Kite (1993), directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang; Farewell, My Concubine (1993), directed by Chen Kaige; Chungking Express and Ashes of Time, both directed by Wong Kar-wai. He had also produced a number of films, including Beijing Bastards (1993), directed by Zhang Yuan; Postman (1995), directed by He Jianjun; and First Love Unlimited (1997), directed by Joe Ma. In 1997, Shu opened P.O.V. Bookstore, a retailer devoted to film. He had been an Artist in Residence at Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Shaw College, as well as guest lecturer at the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Hong Kong. In 2002, he worked as senior lecturer at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, later becoming dean of School of Film and Television. He is also the author and editor of various books, including Hong Kong Films of 1994 (editor); Hong Kong Films of 1995 (editor); Song of the Big Road, The Memoir of Sun Yu; A Comparative Study of Cantonese and Mandarin Films in Post-War Hong Kong--the Films of Zhu Shilin and Chun Kim; A Retrospective of 1960s Cantonese Cinema (editor); Ann Hui’s Vietnam Trilogy Screenplays (writer and editor) and Chinese Beauties (novel). His latest directorial work is The Dream, a segment of the omnibus film Beautiful 2014 (2014), adapted from a short story by author-director Evan Yang (Yi Wen).
Self
The life of the epoch-making master of martial arts cinema, King Hu.
Producer
Tai-hung, in his 50s, lives happily with his wife. Informed of the death of his high school friend, Tai-hung’s secret past resurfaces. The feature debut from promising new Hong Kong talent Jun Li.
Executive Producer
The film charts the origins of the Umbrella Movement through the eyes of the activists and ordinary people who made it happen. From the June 4th Candlelit Vigil until September 28th, this documentary puts us at the heart of the action, allowing us to experiencing the highs and lows of that remarkable summer, when Hong Kong witnessed a "blossoming of democracy."
Self
With Taiwan remaining in the grip of martial law in 1982, a group of filmmakers from that country set out to establish a cultural identity through cinema and to share it with the world. This engaging documentary looks at the movement's legacy.
Director
The 2014 edition of an annual short film compilation. Zhang Yuan directs "I love you boss," about the relationship between a wealthy man and his driver. Kang Je-kyu directs "Awaiting," about a South Korean woman striving to reconnect with her husband in Pyongyang. Christopher Doyle does "Education for All," a documentary about the next generation in Hong Kong and Shu Kei's the dream focuses on a bored housewife who fixates on an attractive stranger at the next table.
Producer
As Hong Kong's foremost filmmaker, Johnnie To himself becomes the protagonist of this painstaking documentary exploring him and his Boundless world of film. A film student from Beijing and avid Johnnie To fan, Ferris Lin boldly approached To with a proposal to document the master director for his graduation thesis. To agreed immediately and Lin's camera closely followed him for over two years, capturing the man behind the movies and the myths. The result is Boundless, a candid profile of one of Hong Kong's greatest directors and a heartfelt love letter to Hong Kong cinema.
Producer
Needing money for her brother’s medical treatment, Liu Yazi agrees to become a surrogate mother for a mysterious benefactor. But when the contract is suddenly terminated, she disappears in a whirlwind, taking the unborn child and leaving former acquaintances, spurned lovers and secret admirers seeking her desperately.
Writer
Needing money for her brother’s medical treatment, Liu Yazi agrees to become a surrogate mother for a mysterious benefactor. But when the contract is suddenly terminated, she disappears in a whirlwind, taking the unborn child and leaving former acquaintances, spurned lovers and secret admirers seeking her desperately.
Producer
Two absolute strangers both desperately struggling to find themselves make a hilariously funny partnership for money. Their plan - a bank robbery! Meet Ah Lee, a well-educated middle-class professional who is deep in debt because of a so-called friend. Then there's PaPa, an inexperienced and very outdated crook who is heartbroken by the recent break-up with his girlfriend. When PaPa decides to teach Ah Lee the art of robbing a bank, the two men discover more than just a thing or two about themselves!
Publicist
Hong Kong 1997, where young people dream of love and death, suicide and murder. Moon is a cynical young debt collector, smitten by Ping, a young woman dying of kidney disease. A suicide note from a student they don't know ends up intertwining their fates.
Producer
Only the lack of roses in every frame prevent this teen romance from being a live action Shojo Manga.
Director
May Ching has three roommates. Tung is the career minded account executive with a business minded girlfriend. Long is the slacker chasing a blind date over the Internet. And 'Brad Pitt' is the playboy who never sleeps with the same woman twice. When all four friends find themselves suddenly out of a job, they decide to open up a bar. In the course of setting up the business, the three boys reexamine their romantic life.
Writer
From a conservative family background, Law Ka Sing hides his homosexual identity in an attempt to conform. Sunny, Sing's boyfriend for eight years is just the opposite, and lives his life out of the closet. Although he deeply loves Sing, he is unwilling to part with the colorful night life, which is in extreme contrast with Sing. Sing's father is also constantly rushing him to marry, and Sing's "girlfriend" Chuen is returning to Hong Kong from Canada and requesting for him to choose between his real or fake lover.
Director
From a conservative family background, Law Ka Sing hides his homosexual identity in an attempt to conform. Sunny, Sing's boyfriend for eight years is just the opposite, and lives his life out of the closet. Although he deeply loves Sing, he is unwilling to part with the colorful night life, which is in extreme contrast with Sing. Sing's father is also constantly rushing him to marry, and Sing's "girlfriend" Chuen is returning to Hong Kong from Canada and requesting for him to choose between his real or fake lover.
Writer
Set in the decadent 1920s, Temptress Moon tells the very complicated story of a wealthy family living on the outskirts of Shanghai. Their youngest daughter, Ruyi, is brought up as a servant to her opium-addicted father and brother. Meanwhile, her brother-in-law Zhongliang has a successful, if illegal, career seducing and blackmailing married women in the city. When he comes to Ruyi's home the two fall in love, and trouble ensues.
Editor
The "Hu-Du-Men" (loosely translated as "stage door") is an imaginary line separating the stage from reality, and a line that must be crossed each and every night by Sum (Josephine Siao), the aging star of a Cantonese Opera troupe. Nearing the twilight of a storied career, Sum must face a variety of challenging new obstacles, including the possible emigration of her family come 1997, the appearance of a promising young actress (Anita Yuen), the hiring of a Western-schooled stage director (David Wu), the surprising revelation of her daughter's sexuality, and finally the reappearance of a shocking secret from her past. Through it all, Sum must retain her professionalism and dignity, as the "Hu-Du-Men" between the stage and her life begins to blur. Emotional, intimate direction and Raymond To's intelligent, relevant screenplay make Hu-Du-Men worthwhile cinema, but it's Josephine Siao's brilliant, emotionally dynamic performance that sets this film above the rest.
Director
The "Hu-Du-Men" (loosely translated as "stage door") is an imaginary line separating the stage from reality, and a line that must be crossed each and every night by Sum (Josephine Siao), the aging star of a Cantonese Opera troupe. Nearing the twilight of a storied career, Sum must face a variety of challenging new obstacles, including the possible emigration of her family come 1997, the appearance of a promising young actress (Anita Yuen), the hiring of a Western-schooled stage director (David Wu), the surprising revelation of her daughter's sexuality, and finally the reappearance of a shocking secret from her past. Through it all, Sum must retain her professionalism and dignity, as the "Hu-Du-Men" between the stage and her life begins to blur. Emotional, intimate direction and Raymond To's intelligent, relevant screenplay make Hu-Du-Men worthwhile cinema, but it's Josephine Siao's brilliant, emotionally dynamic performance that sets this film above the rest.
Associate Producer
Ouyang Feng is a heartbroken and cynical man who spends his days in the desert, connecting expert swordsmen with those seeking revenge and willing to pay for it. Throughout five seasons in exile, Ouyang spins tales of his clients' unrequited loves and unusual acts of bravery.
Producer
A rock musician looks for his girl-friend who left while pregnant, trying to decide whether to keep the baby.
Writer
Director Shu Kei travelled to Venice, Canada, London and Hong Kong, collecting accounts of the Tiananmen impact. Among his interviewees are: award-winning Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien; Hong Kong director Alfred Cheung, a witness to the massacre; actress Deanne Ip, whose national consciousness is fired by the event; as well as his own brothers, one who soon migrates from Hong Kong, and the other, already an Australian emigre. Their personal testimonies are pieced together into a mural of the Chinese people united in their horror and outrage.
Director
Director Shu Kei travelled to Venice, Canada, London and Hong Kong, collecting accounts of the Tiananmen impact. Among his interviewees are: award-winning Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien; Hong Kong director Alfred Cheung, a witness to the massacre; actress Deanne Ip, whose national consciousness is fired by the event; as well as his own brothers, one who soon migrates from Hong Kong, and the other, already an Australian emigre. Their personal testimonies are pieced together into a mural of the Chinese people united in their horror and outrage.
Writer
Ip Cheung and her husband, a senior police inspector, had been happily married for 18 years. One day, Ip runs into her neighbour, a Taiwanese woman. As they are talking, three men suddenly appeared and tried to kill them. The Taiwanese woman is killed but Ip and the kid, Yen, managed to escape. At the same time, Ip's husband commits suicide. His superior suspected him of corruption. Ip finds out that the Taiwanese woman was her husband's mistress and Yen, his illegitimate son. Ip is given custody of Yen but they are unable to get along. However she will save his live when the gang go after him.
Director
Ip Cheung and her husband, a senior police inspector, had been happily married for 18 years. One day, Ip runs into her neighbour, a Taiwanese woman. As they are talking, three men suddenly appeared and tried to kill them. The Taiwanese woman is killed but Ip and the kid, Yen, managed to escape. At the same time, Ip's husband commits suicide. His superior suspected him of corruption. Ip finds out that the Taiwanese woman was her husband's mistress and Yen, his illegitimate son. Ip is given custody of Yen but they are unable to get along. However she will save his live when the gang go after him.
Writer
John Shum leads an expedition to an supposedly deserted island only to find out that it's inhabited by a group of seriously demented characters,lead by Peter Chan Lung.This is a family that stays together,slays together and when the youngest one is refused in marriage to one of the young girls of the troupe they turn into savage maniacs.
Chronicles the growth of a young woman as she dabbles in Hong Kong’s independent film scene. Based in part on Hui’s real-life experiences.
Director
A romance between two mentally handicapped youngsters.
Screenplay
A romance between two mentally handicapped youngsters.
Screenplay
A group of teenagers stop at a service station after a leaving a disco. In a fight resulting from their inability to pay, the staff on duty are killed by the group, which leads to a desperate night of cat and mouse with the police.
Director
Thin Dream Bay is about a Shanghai émigré in Hong Kong, an intellectual woman who experiences her sexual awakening and identity reconfiguration as someone who occupies the in-between-space between the local, the colonial, and the national.
