Ann Hui

Ann Hui
Ann Hui answering questions following a screening of The Way We Are at the Broadway Cinematheque in Yau Ma Tei.
Background information
Chinese name	許鞍華 (traditional)
Chinese name	许鞍华 (simplified)
Born	(1947-05-23) 23 May 1947 (age 69) Anshan, Liaoning
Years active	1979 - present
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Director 1983 Boat People 1996 Summer Snow 2009 The Way We Are 2012 A Simple Life Best Film 1983 Boat People 1996 Summer Snow 2000 Ordinary Heroes 2012 A Simple Life Golden Bauhinia Awards Best Director 1996 Summer Snow Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Best Director 2001 Visible Secret 2007 The Postmodern Life of My Aunt 2008 The Way We Are Best Film 1995 Summer Snow 2007 The Postmodern Life of My Aunt 2008 The Way We Are 2011 A Simple Life Golden Horse Awards Best Director 1999 Ordinary Heroes 2011 A Simple Life Best Film 1995 Summer Snow 1999 Ordinary Heroes

Ann Hui On-Wah, MBE (traditional Chinese: 許鞍華; simplified Chinese: 许鞍华; pinyin: Xǔ Ānhuá; Hepburn: Kyo Anka; born 23 May 1947) is a Hong Kong actress, director, producer and occasional screenwriter. She is one of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers amongst the Hong Kong New Wave. She is known for her (at times) controversial films about social issues in Hong Kong.

Hui has won numerous awards for her films, including, Best Director and Best Picture at the Hong Kong Film Awards, and Best Film at the Asia Pacific Film Festival. She was honored for her lifetime accomplishments at the 2012 Asian Film Awards.

On 23 May 1947, Ann Hui was born in Anshan, Liaoning province, Manchuria to a Chinese father and a Japanese mother. In 1952, she moved to Macau, then Hong Kong at the age of five and attended St. Paul's Convent School. Hui then received a Masters in English and comparative literature at the University of Hong Kong until 1972 and later, studied at the London Film School for two years. Before receiving her degree, Hui studied and did her thesis on the works of Alain Robbe-Grillet, a French writer and filmmaker.

When Hui returned to Hong Kong after her stay in London, she became the assistant to the prominent Chinese film director, King Hu. Her breakthrough directorial work began with several drama series and short documentaries on 16mm for the Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) television station. During 1977, Hui produced and directed half a dozen films for the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), a Hong Kong organization created to clean up government misconduct. Two of these films were so controversial that they had to be banned from airing. A year later, Hui directed three episodes Below the Lion Rock, which depicts the lives of people from Hong Kong, under the public broadcasting station, Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK). The most recognized episode of Hui’s is Boy from Vietnam (1978), which is the start of her "Vietnam trilogy."