Wayne Wang
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Wayne Wang (Template:Zh; born January 12, 1949) is a Hong Kong-American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Considered a pioneer of Asian-American cinema, he was one of the first Chinese-American filmmakers to gain a major foothold in Hollywood. His films, often independently produced, deal with issues of contemporary Asian-American culture and domestic life.
His best known works include Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart (1985), Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989), the Amy Tan literary adaptation The Joy Luck Club (1993), Chinese Box (1997), and A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2007). Other films include the Harvey Keitel and William Hurt–starring comedy Smoke (1995), the family film Because of Winn-Dixie (2005), the romantic comedies Maid in Manhattan (2002) and Last Holiday (2006), and the controversial erotic drama The Center of the World (2001).
He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Bodil Award, a Silver Bear, two Golden Shells, with BAFTA Award, Sundance Grand Jury, Golden Lion, and César Award nominations.
Biography
[edit]Wang was born and raised in Hong Kong, and named after his father's favorite movie star, John Wayne.<ref name=times>Lim, Dennis. "Wayne Wang, Bridging Generations and Hemispheres." New York Times. 12 September 2008.</ref> When he was 17, his parents arranged for him to move to the United States to study, to prepare for medical school. Wang, however, soon put this plan aside when his "eyes were completely opened" by new experience. He turned to the arts,<ref name=times/> studying film and television at California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref>
After graduating from film school, Wang returned to Hong Kong and briefly worked on a popular soap opera before being fired and returning to the United States.<ref name=":0" /> Here he taught English to new immigrants in Chinatown.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
Wang has also worked within the mainstream Hollywood studio system on the films The Joy Luck Club (1993), Maid in Manhattan (2002). Despite these being his some of his most financially successful films,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wang has described the experience as largely negative, and after the production of Last Holiday (2006 film) resolved to work exclusively on independent productions.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref> Wang has also collaborated with the author Paul Auster on the films Smoke (1995) and Anywhere but Here (1999),<ref name=":1" /> which deviated from his typical subject matter of Asian American life.
In 2001 Wang released his film The Center of the World without a MPAA rating because he refused to make cuts to the films sexually explicit scenes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wang has said the films commercial and critical failure set his career back and led him to work on less personal films<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
He won the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian Film Festival in September 2007 for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers.
In 2016, he won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Diego Asian Film Festival.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life
[edit]He is married to actress Cora Miao, a former Miss Hong Kong. They live in San Francisco and New York City.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Filmography
[edit]References
[edit]External links
[edit]- Pages with broken file links
- 1949 births
- Living people
- American film directors of Hong Kong descent
- American film editors
- American film producers
- American male screenwriters
- Hong Kong film producers
- Film directors from California
- California College of the Arts alumni
- Hong Kong emigrants to the United States
- Chinese emigrants to the United States
- Writers from New York City
- Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area
- Film directors from New York City
- Screenwriters from California
- Screenwriters from New York (state)