Yonfan (born 14 October 1947) is a

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 List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

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, pr ...

and

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in oth ...

Biography

He was born in

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The p ...

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...

. As the Yang family emigrated from mainland China, they lived first in Hong Kong for 3 years, and then moved to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

when Yonfan was 5 years old. He spent most of his childhood and adolescence in

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of T ...

, Taiwan, and returned to Hong Kong in 1964 as a 17-year-old man to work as a photographer, but left for the United States in 1968 to study film. After a couple of years travelling through the United States, France and Britain, he returned to Hong Kong in 1973, and became a photographer noted for his celebrity portraits. In 1984, he made his box office debut as a director with '' A Certain Romance''. Two years later, Yonfan adapted the much-loved romantic novel '' The Story of Rose'' by Yi Shu. Starring an up-and-coming

Maggie Cheung Maggie Cheung Man-yuk (; born 20 September 1964) is a Hong Kong former actress. Raised in Hong Kong and Britain, she started her career after placing second in 1983's Miss Hong Kong Pageant. She achieved critical success in the late 1980s and i ...

, the passionate '' Lost Romance'' was a huge commercial success starring a young

Chow Yun-fat Chow Yun-fat (born 18 May 1955), previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor. He is perhaps best known for his collaborations with filmmaker John Woo in the five Hong Kong action heroic bloodshed films: '' A Better Tomorrow'', '' A ...

. After '' In Between'' (1994), Yonfan started to steer away from the mainstream market and began to introduced characters from the marginalised section of the society. With 1998 came another milestone, '' Bishonen'', best known for its romantic cinematography and explicit portrayal of homosexual onscreen passion. Inspired by a real-life scandal in which a Hong Kong playboy was found to possess more than a thousand nude photographs of local police officers, this melodramatic tale of redemption polarized film critics in Hong Kong, but was very well received at film festivals around the globe. It also launched the acting career of heartthrob

Daniel Wu Daniel Ng Neh-Tsu (, born September 30, 1974) is an American actor, director and producer based in Hong Kong. He is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese language film industry. Since his film debut in 1998, he has ...

. His 2001 film ''

Peony Pavilion ''The Peony Pavilion'' ( zh, t=牡丹亭, s=牡丹亭, p=Mǔdān tíng, w=Mu-tan t'ing), also named ''The Return of Soul at the Peony Pavilion'', is a romantic tragicomedy play written by dramatist Tang Xianzu in 1598. The plot was drawn from the sh ...

'' was entered into the

23rd Moscow International Film Festival The 23rd Moscow International Film Festival was held from 21 to 30 June 2001. The Golden St. George was awarded to the American film '' The Believer'' directed by Henry Bean. Jury * Margarethe von Trotta (Germany – President of the Jury) * Jia ...

. In 2010, Yonfan was head of the jury at Hong Kong's

Asian Film Awards Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

in March and was part of the jury of the

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

in May. In 2011, Yonfan headed the New Currents jury at the 16th

Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival, PIFF), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (''also'' Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festiv ...

in October. The Festival also hosted a retrospective of the director's films, featuring seven of his restored and re-mastered films from the 1980s through 2000s.

Filmography

* '' A Certain Romance'' (少女日記, 1984) starring

Anthony Tang｜Mei-Chi Ng Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

* '' Lost Romance'' (玫瑰的故事, 1986) starring

* '' Immortal Story'' (海上花, 1986) starring

Sylvia Chang Sylvia Chang (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. In 2018, she was one of the jury members of the main competition ...

* ''

Double Fixation A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ' ...

'' (意亂情迷, 1987) starring Cherie Chung,

Jacky Cheung Jacky Cheung Hok-yau (born 10 July 1961) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Dubbed the " God of Songs", he is regarded as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong pop music. Cheung is known for his technically skilled vocals, lengthy tours, and ...

* ''

Last Romance "Last Romance" is a song by Australian singer songwriter Mark Holden. It was released in November 1976 as the third and final single from Holden's second studio album, '' Let Me Love You'' (1976). The song was a commercial success peaking at numbe ...

'' (流金歲月, 1988) starring Cherie Chung,

* '' Promising Miss Bowie'' (祝福, 1990) starring

Dodo Cheng Carol Cheng Yu Ling (Traditional Chinese: 鄭裕玲; born 9 September 1957), is a Hong Kong film/television actress and host. Arguably one of the most famous celebrities to have emerged during the British colonial period, Cheng made her break ...

Kenneth Tsang Kenneth Tsang Kong (; 5 October 1934 – 27 April 2022) was a Hong Kong actor. Tsang's career spanned 50 years and included a variety of acting roles. Tsang won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the 34th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2015. Early ...

* '' In Between'' (新同居時代, 1994) starring

Nicky Wu Nicholas Wu Qilong (born 31 October 1970) is a Taiwanese singer and actor. He found fame in 1988 when he became a member of the popular Taiwanese band, Xiao Hu Dui (Little Tiger Team), performing alongside Alec Su and Julian Chen. The trio were ex ...

* ''

Bugis Street Bugis (Kampong Bugis in Malay) is an area in Singapore that covers Bugis Street now located within the Bugis Junction shopping mall. Bugis Street was renowned internationally from the 1950s to the 1980s for its nightly gathering of transves ...

'' (妖街皇后, 1995) starring

Michael Lam Michael Lam Wai-Leung () is a former Hong Kong film actor. He has appeared in numerous films, in several of which he has played the lead role. He first appeared in the film ''The Night Rider''. Lam took his first lead role in the Hong Kong-Sin ...

Hiep Thi Le Hiep Thi Le ( vi, Lê Thị Hiệp; February 18, 1971 – December 19, 2017) was an American actress and restaurateur. She is best known for her portrayal of Le Ly in the film '' Heaven & Earth'' (1993). Early life Le was born on February 18, ...

* '' Bishonen'' (美少年の戀, 1998) starring

Shu Qi use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinate ...

Brigitte Lin Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia (; born 3 November 1954) is a Taiwanese actress. She is regarded as an icon of Chinese language cinema for her extensive and varied roles in both Taiwanese and Hong Kong films. Biography Lin was born in Chiayi, Taiwan. ...

* ''

'' (遊園驚夢, 2001) starring

Rie Miyazawa is a Japanese actress and former teen idol. She is regarded as one of Japan's top actresses, and her accolades include six Japan Academy Film Prizes and three Kinema Junpo Awards Miyazawa began her career as a child model, seeing wide exposur ...

Joey Wong Joey Wong Cho-Yee ( AKA Joey Wang, Wang Tsu Hsien, or Joey Ong Jyo Han/Hen) (, born 31 January 1967) is a Hong Kong based Taiwanese actress and singer. Along with Maggie Cheung, Rosamund Kwan and Cherie Chung, she is widely regarded as one of th ...

* '' Breaking the Willow'' (鳳冠情事, 2003) * ''

Colour Blossoms ''Colour Blossoms'' ( zh, t=桃色, j=Toh sik) is a 2004 Hong Kong art film written and directed by Yonfan, and the third in an informal trilogy of films inspired by Tang Xianzu's ''The Peony Pavilion''. The original Chinese title of ''Colour Bl ...

'' (桃色, 2004), starring Teresa Cheung,

Keiko Matsuzaka (born July 20, 1952) is a Japanese actress. Early life Born in Ōta, Tokyo, her father was a naturalized South Korean while her mother was Japanese. Career In the 1960s, Matsuzaka became a child actress. Matsuzaka grew into adulthood in film ...

* '' Prince of Tears'' (淚王子, 2009) starring

Joseph Chang Joseph Chang Hsiao-chuan (, born 28 December 1983) is a Taiwanese actor. He is best known for his role in the critically acclaimed 2006 Taiwanese film '' Eternal Summer'', which earned him two Golden Horse Awards The Taipei Golden Horse Fi ...

FAN Chih-Wei

Terri Kwan :''This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chen. In the stage name, the surname is Kwan.'' Terri Kwan (; born 2 July 1976) is a Taiwanese actress, model, singer and author. Early life Kwan was born in Tokyo, Japan. She has a sister and tw ...

Zhu Xuan Zhu Xuan (朱瑄''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 182.'' History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 13.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 255. or 朱宣''New Book of Tang'', vol. 188.''New History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 42.) (d. 897) was a warlord late in t ...

* ''

No.7 Cherry Lane ''No.7 Cherry Lane'' () is a 2019 Hong Kong-Chinese adult animated film directed by Yonfan, with animation by Zhang Gang. It was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 76th Venice International Film Festival. It was also selected for ...

'' (2019)

References

External links

*
Yonfan Studio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yonfan 1947 births Taiwanese film directors Taiwanese photographers Hong Kong photographers Living people Taiwanese people from Hubei People from Taichung

Biography

Filmography

See also

Chinese LGBT film directors

References

External links