Quentin Lee (; born 1971)
is a Hong Kong-born Canadian-American film writer, director, and producer. He is most notable for the television series ''Comedy InvAsian'' and feature films ''
The People I've Slept With'' (2009), ''
Ethan Mao'' (2004), and ''
Shopping for Fangs'' (1997), which he co-directed with ''
Better Luck Tomorrow'' (2002) director
Justin Lin
Justin Lin (, born October 11, 1971) is a Taiwanese-American film director. His films have grossed US$2.3 billion worldwide as of March 2017. He is best known for his directorial work on '' Better Luck Tomorrow'' (2002), the ''Fast & Furious'' f ...
.
Lee's films often feature male lead characters who are
Asian American and
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
, two minority groups generally not seen as lead characters in mainstream Hollywood films.
Early life
Born in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, Lee immigrated to
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
when he was 15 due to the
financial panic
A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...
speculating the
handover of Hong Kong
Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony. Hong Kong was established as a special admini ...
in 1997.
Lee studied English at
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
and went on to received an MA in English from
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
in 1993. He originally went on to attend
USC School of Cinematic Arts
The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...
but transferred after getting off the UCLA waitlist.
Lee graduate with an MFA from the
UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television
The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT), is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leadi ...
in 1999.
Feature films
1993–1999: Projects at UCLA Film School
Lee founded the production company Margin Films in 1996. The company later moved into theatrical film distribution, starting with the film ''
Bugis Street''.
''Flow'' (1996) was Lee's first feature film, which focused on a gay filmmaker talking about his work to an unseen friend behind a camera, and then became a series of films within a film, as the audience is then shown four of the filmmaker's short films. The film screened at the
Vancouver International Film Festival
The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October.
The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Fest ...
, the Turin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, the
London Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, and
Outfest
Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival ...
and received positive reviews from ''
L.A. Weekly'' as well as the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
''.
Lee's second feature ''
Shopping for Fangs'', a "gay vampire drama", was co-directed with classmate
Justin Lin
Justin Lin (, born October 11, 1971) is a Taiwanese-American film director. His films have grossed US$2.3 billion worldwide as of March 2017. He is best known for his directorial work on '' Better Luck Tomorrow'' (2002), the ''Fast & Furious'' f ...
and premiered at the
1997 Toronto International Film Festival.
The film stars
John Cho
John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the '' Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series.
Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian A ...
and is considered to be a cult classic in the Asian American independent film genre.
2000–present: Post graduation and independent work
''Drift'' (2000) was Lee's third feature film, which starred
Reggie Lee, Greyson Dayne and Jonathon Roessler, and which got nominated for Best Feature film at the Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. ''
Ethan Mao'' (2004) was Lee's fourth feature film, which won an Audience Award at the Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.
Jun Hee Lee starred as the title character, Ethan Mao.
Lee's film ''
The People I've Slept With''—which was written and produced by
Koji Steven Sakai—premiered at the 2009
Hawaii International Film Festival
The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival held in the United States state of Hawaii.
HIFF has a focus on Asian-Pacific cinema, education, and the work of new and emerging filmmakers. HIFF’s primary festival is ...
, internationally at the 2009
São Paulo International Film Festival
The São Paulo International Film Festival ( pt, Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A non-profit event, the festival is organized ...
, the 2010
Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival
The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is us ...
in Asia, and the 2010 Hamburg Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in Europe. The film stars
Karin Anna Cheung as a pregnant woman who is looking for the true identity of her baby's father.
''
White Frog'' is a coming of age story about an
autistic
The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...
teenager who struggles through the loss of his older brother. It stars
Booboo Stewart
Nils Allen "Booboo" Stewart Jr. (born January 21, 1994) is an American actor. He is known for playing Seth Clearwater in '' The Twilight Saga'', Warpath in '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'', Jay in the Disney television film franchise '' Descend ...
,
Gregg Sulkin
Gregg Sulkin (born 29 May 1992) is a British actor. He made his film debut in the 2002 ''Doctor Zhivago'' mini-series. He later starred in the 2006 British release '' Sixty Six'', and subsequently appeared in the Disney Channel comedy series ''A ...
, and
Harry Shum Jr. The film premiered at the
CAAMFest in 2012.
Fortissimo Films
Fortissimo Films is a Dutch sales, film production company specializing in the production, presentation, promotion and distribution of feature films, founded in 1991 purchased the international distribution rights in 2011.
Short films and documentaries
Lee's first foray into
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
, ''0506HK'' (2007),
premiered July 2007 at the
Vancouver International Film Centre
The VIFF Centre (formerly the Vancouver International Film Centre and the Vancity Theatre) is a movie theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which houses the 175-seat Vancity Theatre, the 41-seat Studio Theatre, as well as the offices fo ...
''Hong Kong Stories'' film series, commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China. The film explored his personal and political perspectives on whether to return to Hong Kong, as well as the evolving cultural and social climate, through interviews with family members and friends living and working in both Hong Kong and Los Angeles.
His short film ''Gay Hollywood Dad'' (2018) is about the journey he underwent as a surrogate father.
Producing
Films that Lee produced that he did not direct include the feature film ''Chink'' starring
Jason Tobin
Jason Tobin, credited in Chinese as To Jun Wai (杜俊緯), is a Hong Kong-British film and television actor best known for his work in the lead role of Young Jun in the Cinemax series ''Warrior''.
Early life and education
Tobin was born in Hon ...
,
Eugenia Yuan
Eugenia Yuan is an American actress and former rhythmic gymnast who has won a Hong Kong Film Award.
Early life
On January 22, 1976, Yuan was born in Inglewood, Los Angeles county, California. Yuan's mother is Cheng Pei-pei, an actress wh ...
and
Tzi Ma
Tzi Ma (;) is a Hong Kong-American actor. He is well known for his roles in television shows, such as '' The Man in the High Castle'' and '' 24'', and films, such as ''Dante's Peak'', ''Rush Hour'', ''Rush Hour 3'', '' Arrival'', '' The Farewel ...
, directed by Stanley Yung and written by
Koji Steven Sakai, who wrote his previous film, ''
The People I've Slept With''. The film premiered at the 2013
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) – formerly known as VC FilmFest – is an annual film festival presented by Visual Communications (VC). It was established in 1983 by Linda Mabalot as a vehicle to promote Asian Pacific Ameri ...
.
He was also a producer on
Ringo Le
Ringo Le is an American filmmaker who is of Vietnamese descent. Ringo is a graduate of California State University, Los Angeles. After college, he was selected as a fellow to participate in the Film Independent Project:Involve film mentorship prog ...
's feature film, ''
Big Gay Love'' (2013). He has also served as a producer on the short documentary, ''Taky Kimura: The Dragon's Legacy'' (2010), directed by Mellissa Tong.
Writing
Lee has also published a novel, entitled ''Dress Like a Boy'' in 2000. It has received positive reviews in publications such as ''
AsianWeek
''AsianWeek'' was America's first and largest English language print and on-line publication serving Asian Americans. The news organization played an important role nationally and in the San Francisco Bay Area as the “Voice of Asian America”. ...
'' and ''
XY Magazine''. Lee's novel, ''The Secret Diary of Edward Ng'', is a gay coming of age story partly inspired by his time at Berkeley. It was released in August 2019.
In October 2009, Lee's graphic novel ''Campus Ghost Story'', created in collaboration with artist John Hahn was published by Fresh Fear, an imprint of Margin Films.
Personal life
Lee is openly gay.
He has a younger sister. He has a son through
surrogacy.
Lee, along with 48 other patients, have accused former USC and UCLA doctor Dennis Kelly of sexual abuse.
Filmography
As director
* ''Anxiety of Inexpression and the Otherness Machine'' (1992)
* ''To Ride a Cow'' (1993)
* ''Flow'' (1996)
* ''
Shopping for Fangs'' (1997)
* ''Fall 1990'' (1999)
* ''Drift'' (2000)
* ''
Ethan Mao'' (2004)
* ''0506HK'' (2007)
* ''
The People I've Slept With'' (2009)
* ''Little Love'' (2010)
* ''Today Has Been Weird'' (2011)
* ''
White Frog'' (2012)
* ''The Unbidden'' (2016)
* ''Boy Luck Club'' (2020)
* ''Comisery'' (2020)
See also
Other Chinese LGBT film directors
*
Simon Chung
Simon Chung Tak-sing (), is a Hong Kong film director. His films include ''Innocent'', released in 2005, ''End of Love'' which premiered at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival in 2009,[Cui Zi'en
Cui Zi'en (), born 1958, in Harbin in the People's Republic of China, is a film director, producer, film scholar, screenwriter, novelist and an outspoken LGBT activist based in Beijing. He graduated from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences wi ...]
*
Kit Hung
*
Stanley Kwan
Stanley Kwan (traditional Chinese: 關錦鵬; simplified Chinese: 关锦鹏); born 9 October 1957) is a Hong Kong film director and producer.
Kwan landed a job at TVB after receiving a mass communications degree at Hong Kong Baptist College. ...
*
Zihan Loo
Loo Zihan (; born 11 November 1983) is a Singaporean actor, film director, artist and dancer. He was a part-time teacher at School of the Arts, Singapore, National Institute of Education (Singapore) and Nanyang Technological University.
Professi ...
*
Scud
*
Yonfan
Yonfan (born 14 October 1947) is a Hong Kong film director and photographer.
Biography
He was born in Wuhan, Hubei, Republic of China. As the Yang family emigrated from mainland China, they lived first in Hong Kong for 3 years, and then moved to ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Quentin
1971 births
Living people
Canadian cinematographers
Canadian film directors
Hong Kong emigrants to Canada
American film directors of Hong Kong descent
Naturalized citizens of Canada
Canadian male novelists
21st-century Canadian novelists
Canadian writers of Asian descent
Canadian LGBT novelists
Canadian gay writers
LGBT American people of Asian descent
LGBT film directors
LGBT television directors
Asian-Canadian filmmakers