Sylvia Chang
| Sylvia Chang | |||||||||||||||||
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Chang at the 2011 Hong Kong International Film Festival
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| Background information | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | 張艾嘉 (traditional) | ||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | 张艾嘉 (simplified) | ||||||||||||||||
| Pinyin | Zhāng1 Ài4 jiā1 (Mandarin) | ||||||||||||||||
| Jyutping | Cheung Ngaai Ga (Cantonese) | ||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Ai-chia Sylvia Chang | ||||||||||||||||
| Origin | Taiwan | ||||||||||||||||
| Born |
21 July 1953 Chiayi, Taiwan |
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| Other name(s) | Sylvia Cheung Ai-ca Chang Ai-cha |
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| Occupation | Actress, writer, director, singer | ||||||||||||||||
| Genre(s) | Mandopop | ||||||||||||||||
| Label(s) | Rock Records | ||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 1981–present | ||||||||||||||||
| Ancestry | Wutai, Shanxi | ||||||||||||||||
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Awards
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Sylvia Chang Ai-chia (born 21 July 1953) is a Taiwanese actress, writer, singer, producer and director. In 1992, she was a member of the jury at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival.
Sylvia Chang was born in Chiayi, Taiwan and went off to school, until she was 16, where upon she dropped out and started her career as a radio DJ. Soon she made the move into television when she was only 17. When she was 18 years old she starred in her first film. Forty years later, Sylvia Chang is one of Hong Kong's greatest, and probably most diversified, female artist. Throughout her career in the film industry, which includes writing, directing, and producing, she is also a singer, a stage actress, and an advocate for World Vision International as well as a mother and wife.
Sylvia Chang's career has spanned many decades. She has been an actress, starting in the 70s when she was only 16, moving up to writing, directing and producing. Many of the films she has directed try to defy the normal gender roles. Even herself as a well known female, Taiwanese, director has helped defy normal gender roles in the film industry. She stated in an interview with film editor, Clarence Tsui, that "I still think Hong Kong's film industry is male-dominated". However, she is trying her best to break through that dominance. She also believes that "There aren't many male filmmakers who would write scripts for women". But, she proved that one gender can write for the other with her film "Run Papa Run" (Chang 2008). She helped write the script, based on the novel by Benny Li Shuan Yan, that follows a man who belongs to the Triad and the relationship he has with his mother, wife and daughter. Chang said in an interview that, "I thought why don't I explore the gentler side of men". She explored not only how men try to prove their masculinity by being in gangs, but also how they too, can have gentler sides.
Chang is known for trying out different types of roles: “From an innocent girl to a street walker, from a rude police officer to a respected teacher, from an alcoholic to a great mother. And through it all, she's never lost her zest for life”. She's not only versatile in her career choices, but as well in her acting career. From her first film when she was only 18, "The Tattooed Dragon" (Wei Lo 1973), to one of her most recent "20 30 40" which she not only starred as the 40-year-old woman, but also wrote and directed the film as well. Chang also attempted to do her own stunts in the four-part series "Aces Go Places".
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