Ann Hui comes from China, born to a Chinese father and Japanese mother, but grew up in Hong Kong. She works as a director, producer and screenwriter and has become one of the chief exponents of the Hong Kong New Wave. She studied at the London International Film School. In the 1970s she began working at TVB, one of Hong Kong’s largest television networks, where she produced several serials and documentaries. Her 1979 film debut The Secret is considered a seminal work of the Hong Kong New Wave. She is capable of striking a delicate balance between business and art. She cannot be pigeonholed into a single genre, and her filmography encompasses thrillers, documentaries, action films, family dramas and literary adaptations. One of her most significant films is the semiautobiographical picture Song of the Exile (1990), on the search for one’s roots and identity. The film Ordinary Heroes (1999), looking at social and political changes in China, represented Hong Kong as their Oscar nominee for Best Foreign-Language Film. Ann Hui has racked up an abundance of international film awards and nominations, including the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at Berlin (1995) and the Berlinale Camera (1997). She was a member of festival juries at Berlinale 1996, Venice 2003 and was jury president at Locarno 2006.
Art Film Fest’s section Eastern Promises will present the director’s latest film Night and Fog (Tin shui wai dik ye yu mo, 2009), which was nominated in three separate categories at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Its storyline is based on actual events from the year 2004, dealing with the issue of domestic violence. “The story and its characters gave me the opportunity to portray a way of life that is an everyday reality for many people in Hong Kong,” says the director, who focuses her work on current societal problems.
The Art Film Fest International Film Festival Trenčianske Teplice/Trenčín is made possible through the financial support of the Audiovisual Fund and the European Union Programme MEDIA.
Organizers: ART FILM, n.o., Forza, a.s.
Co-organizers: The Town of Trenčianske Teplice, the City of Trenčín, the Trenčianske Teplice Health Spa
Media Sponsors: Slovenská televízia, televízia Markíza, FilmBox, Televízia Central, Rádio Europa 2, Rádio Hit FM, Pravda, .týždeň, Markíza, Pardon, Cinemax, Kam do mesta, zoznam.sk, ISPA, SITA, Q-EX, Boomerang Media
