Wayne Wang (; born January 12, 1949) is a Hong Kong–American director, producer, and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. 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 ''A Thousand Years of Good Prayers'' is a 2007 American drama film directed by Wayne Wang and starring Faye Yu, Henry O, Vida Ghahremani and Pasha D. Lychnikoff. It is adapted from the short story by Yiyun Li and shot on a high-end high-def ...

'' (2007). Other films include the Harvey Keitel and

William Hurt William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. H ...

–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 ''The Center of the World'' is a 2001 American drama film directed by Wayne Wang and shot on digital video. It stars Peter Sarsgaard as a dot-com millionaire who hires a drummer/stripper ( Molly Parker) to stay with him in Las Vegas for three ...

'' (2001). He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a

Bodil Award The Bodil Awards are the major Danish film awards given by the Danish Film Critics Association. The awards are presented annually at a ceremony in Copenhagen. Established in 1948, it is one of the oldest film awards in Europe. The awards are give ...

, a

Silver Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fes ...

, two Golden Shells, with

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

, Sundance Grand Jury,

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguis ...

, and

César Award Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * Ces ...

nominations.

Biography

Wang was born and raised 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 List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

, and named after his father's favorite movie star,

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Go ...

.Lim, Dennis.
Wayne Wang, Bridging Generations and Hemispheres
" ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. 12 September 2008. When he was 17, his parents arranged for him to move to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

to study, to prepare for medical school. Wang, however, soon put this plan aside when his 'eyes were completely opened' by new experience, and as he turned to the arts, studying film and television at

California College of Arts and Crafts California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...

. After graduating from film school, Wang taught English to new immigrants in Chinatown. '' Chan Is Missing'' (1982), '' Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart'' (1985), and '' Eat a Bowl of Tea'' (1989) established his reputation. He is best known for '' The Joy Luck Club'' (1993), '' Maid in Manhattan'' (2002), and the independent features '' Smoke'' (1995) and '' Anywhere but Here'' (1999). At the 2007

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

, Wang premiered two feature films, ''

'' and ''

The Princess of Nebraska ''The Princess of Nebraska'' is a 2007 film directed by Wayne Wang. It stars Li Ling and Brian Danforth. It was adapted from a story by Yiyun Li. Premise A pregnant San Francisco Chinese teenage immigrant named Sasha tells of life in America. C ...

'', as well as appearing in the

Arthur Dong Arthur Dong is an American filmmaker and author whose work centers on Asia America and anti-gay prejudice. He was raised in San Francisco, California, graduating from Galileo High School in June 1971. He received his BA in film from San Franci ...

documentary film ''Hollywood Chinese''. He won the

Golden Shell The Golden Shell ( es, Concha de Oro; eu, Urrezko Maskorra) is the highest prize given to a competing film at the San Sebastián Film Festival. It was introduced in 1957. In 1953 and 1954, the highest prize had been called the Gran Premio. In 19 ...

at the San Sebastian Film Festival in September 2007 for ''

''. In 2016, he won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

Personal life

He is married to former Miss Hong Kong and actress Cora Miao, and lives in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Filmography

References

External links

*
Interview with Wayne Wang October 2011
at subtitledonline.com
"New look of Asian American films / Festival opens with edgy 'Better Luck Tomorrow,' honors 'Chan Is Missing
''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Wayne 1949 births Living people American film directors of Hong Kong descent American film editors American film producers American male screenwriters Asian 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) Hong Kong people