Johnnie To

Johnnie To
Background information
Chinese name	杜琪峯
Chinese name	杜琪峯 (traditional)
Jyutping	dou6 kei4 fung1 (Cantonese)
Origin	Hong Kong
Born	(1955-04-22) 22 April 1955 (age 61) Hong Kong
Other name(s)	Johnny To
Occupation	film director, producer
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Director 2000 The Mission 2004 PTU 2006 Election Best Film 2004 Running on Karma 2006 Election Golden Bauhinia Awards Best Director 2000 The Mission 2004 PTU 2007 Exiled Best Film 2000 The Mission 2004 PTU 2006 Election 2007 Exiled Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Best Director 1998 A Hero Never Dies 1999 The Mission 2003 PTU 2005 Election 2006 Exiled Best Film 1999 The Mission 2005 Election 2006 Election 2 Golden Horse Awards Best Director 1999 The Mission 2004 Breaking News 2012 Life Without Principle

Johnnie To (born 22 April 1955), also known as To Kei-Fung (杜琪峯), is a Hong Kong film director and producer. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas. Intensely prolific, To has made films in a variety of genres, though in the West he is best known for his action and crime movies, which have earned him critical respect and a cult following (which include Quentin Tarantino, who once said that he really loves to watch To's gangster films).

To's biggest international successes include Breaking News, Election, Election 2 (a.k.a. Triad Election), Exiled, Mad Detective and Drug War; these films have appeared in a number of international film festivals, been distributed theatrically in France and the United States, and been widely sold to foreign countries.

His films, often made in collaboration with the same group of actors, screenwriters and cinematographers, frequently explore themes of friendship, fate and the changing face of Hong Kong society. Sometimes described as "multifaceted and chameleonic" due to his ability to switch tones and genres between movies, To is nonetheless seen as having a consistent style, which involves mixing subdued realism and social observation with highly stylised visual and acting elements.

To heads the Hong Kong-based production company Milkyway Image with his frequent co-director Wai Ka-Fai.

Johnnie To began his career at age 17 as a messenger for the Hong Kong television studio TVB. From there To moved up the ladder, working as an executive producer and director for TV shows starting in 1973. In 1978, he shot his first theatrical feature, but continued working in television. In 1983, he directed and screen-wrote the critically acclaimed The Legend of the Condor Heroes, a dramatised TV series base on the martial art novel of the same name by Louis Cha.

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