Sherwood Xuehua Hu (; born 1967), is a
Chinese American
Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...
theatre director
A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...
and
film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...
.
Early life and education
Hu was born in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
in 1967, to Hu Weimin (; 1932-1989), a theatre director, and Gu Menghua (). His sister Hu Xuelian () is a producer.
Career
Born and raised in Shanghai in a creative and artistic family, Hu relocated to the US where he earned a master's degree in theater and film production from the
State University of New York at Buffalo
The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...
, and a Ph.D. in directing from the
University of Hawaii at Manoa
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
. He also studied under
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. He established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in Lower Manhattan. There Papp created a y ...
at New York's
Public Theater
The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...
, and began his professional career directing theatre, including productions of Rashomon, Constant Prince, and The Chairman's Wife. He also acted in the lead role of Song Liling in several productions of
David Henry Hwang
David Henry Hwang (born August 11, 1957) is an American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and theater professor at Columbia University in New York City. He has won three Obie Awards for his plays '' FOB'', '' Golden Child'', and '' Yellow ...
's ''
M. Butterfly
''M. Butterfly'' is a play by David Henry Hwang. The story, while entwined with that of the opera ''Madama Butterfly'', is based most directly on the relationship between French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and Shi Pei Pu, a Peking opera singer. T ...
''.
Hu created ''The Legend of Prince Lanling'', a lavish stage production set in ancient China; this received an honorable mention from the
Kennedy Arts Center. He later adapted this into his first feature film, the epic ''Warrior Lanling'', which was launched at the
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
Telluride Film Festival
The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado during Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 49th edition took place on September 2 -6, 2022.
History
First held on 30 August 1974, th ...
,
San Sebastian Film Festival,
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 h ...
and others.
In 1998,
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...
and
Wayne Wang
Wayne Wang (; born January 12, 1949) is a Hong Kong Americans, Hong Kong–American Film director, director, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter. Considered a pioneer of Asian-American cinema, he was one of the first Chinese Americans, ...
were executive producers of his second feature, one of the first co-productions between American and Chinese filmmakers. ''
Lani Loa - The Passage'' was a
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
an ghost story/cop movie/spiritual love story, shot in Shanghai and Hawaii, and starred
Angus Macfadyen
Angus Macfadyen (born 21 September 1963) is a Scottish actor. His roles include Robert the Bruce, both in ''Braveheart'' and ''Robert the Bruce'', Komodo in ''Warriors of Virtue'', Vice-Counsel Dupont in '' Equilibrium'', Jeff Denlon in the '' ...
,
Ray Bumatai, and
Chris Tashima
Christopher Inadomi Tashima (born March 24, 1960) is a Japanese American actor and director. He is co-founder of the entertainment company Cedar Grove Productions and Artistic Director of its Asian American theatre company, Cedar Grove OnStage. T ...
. Tashima also starred in his next film, ''On The Roof'' (2002), a small
indie
Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Gaming
*Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies
*Indie game, any game (board ...
digital video
Digital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images (video) in the form of encoded digital data. This is in contrast to analog video, which represents moving visual images in the form of analog signals. Digital video comprises ...
ensemble piece filmed in Pasadena, California.
In 2003, Hu returned to China to direct a 40-episode television series, ''Purple Jade'' for
China Central Television
China Central Television (CCTV) is a Chinese state- and political party-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its 50 different channels broadcast a variety of programing to more than one billion viewers in six lan ...
, and a 30-episode TV series "The War of Peking". He returned to epic costume period film work with ''Prince of the Himalayas'' (2007), his own adaptation of
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'', set in ancient
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
, performed entirely in the Tibetan language. The film received numerous awards including best picture, best director, and best actor at several international film festivals.
Hu also has continued with theatre work, including stage productions of
A.R. Gurney
Albert Ramsdell Gurney Jr. (November 1, 1930 – June 13, 2017) (sometimes credited as Pete Gurney) was an American playwright, novelist and academic. He is known for works including ''The Dining Room'' (1982), ''Sweet Sue (play), Sweet Sue'' (1 ...
's ''
Sylvia'',
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...
's ''
Dirty Hands
''Dirty Hands'' (french: Les Mains sales) is a play by Jean-Paul Sartre. It was first performed on 2 April 1948 at the Theatre Antoine in Paris, directed by Pierre Valde and starring François Périer, Marie Olivier and André Luguet.
A politi ...
'' and a modern ballet, ''Shakespeare and His Women'', for the 8th
Shanghai International Arts Festival (2006), and a stage production of Prince of the Himalayas (2007) for the 9th
Shanghai International Arts Festival. Production of “Mulan”, which is adapted as a shadow puppetry show, received rave reviews and theater awards, including the “Golden Clown Award” of the 5th International Theater Festival in Russia. His theater production “Farewell My Concubine” was in New York Met Life, sold out completely, and received raving reviews. Recently, he directed a new Beijing opera, “New Dragon Inn,” which is based on a film of the same name; when the production opened at the Shanghai Grand Theater it was called “an instant classic”. His innovative music production "Music of Life" was successfully performed at Carnegie Hall in October 2019.
Between his film and theatre projects, Hu is also a guest professor at the Shanghai Drama Academy where he supervises and mentors graduate students. He has been honored with the title of "Eastern Scholar" as a distinguished professor. Hu founded the Film and Television School at Shanghai Theater Academy in 2012, and served as its dean and professor supervising graduate students. He also established the MIA Center (Media Image Art), contributing his time to study VR/AR technology film mixed with theater, computer arts, digital science, and high-tech engineering. He is also a tenured professor at USC-ICCI, Shanghai Jiaotong University.
Hu has also been a host on the Shanghai TV station ''Art and Culture'' channel of its film critique program, ''Hu on Silver Screen,'' since 2009. He was also the artistic director of the 2010 World Expo's Shanghai Pavilion. His new book《Notions of Directing》has been published by Chinese Film Press. Hu is an active member of APSA. He received a “Golden Crane Award” for Excellent Contribution in Film at the 2017 Tokyo International Film Festival, and was awarded best director at the 51st Houston International Film Festival in 2018.
Filmography
Trivia
*Hu is sometimes credited as Sherwood X. Hu.
*He has a sister who is an actress and a brother who is also a filmmaker.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hu, Sherwood
1967 births
Living people
American film directors of Chinese descent
American theatre directors of Chinese descent
Film directors from Shanghai
University at Buffalo alumni
University of Hawaiʻi alumni
Chinese emigrants to the United States