The director: Wayne Wang After his family had escaped from China, Wayne Wang was born on Wednesday, 12 January 1949 in Hong Kong. After attending the Wah Yah High school, he emigrated to the USA at the age of 18 years in order to study at “California College of Arts and Crafts” in Oakland. His first project was the film „A Man, A Woman, A Killer“ which he produced at the end of his study with Rick Schmidt. After getting a master degree he returned to Hong Kong, where he worked for the “Radio and Television Hong Kong”. During his permanent position he also produced the famous series „Below the Lion Rock“, which shows the everyday life of Hong Kong’s average inhabitants. When he returned to USA his residence was San Francisco. There he spent his time helping Asian immigrants. Theses experiences inspired him to his second film „Chan is missing“. The premier of Wang’s third film „Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart“ (1984) took place in Cannes and got a British-Academy-Award-nomination for the best, foreign film. As a result he directed the thriller “Slam dance” with Tom Hulce, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Virginia Madsen. Till today Wang produced nine films. A special success was the film “Smoke” which won the „Goldenen Bären“ and was nominated for the best film for the French César. Wang and Auster, the author, worked together in the film „Blue in the face“ (1994) again. Some of Wangs latest works are „Anywhere but not here“ (1999) with Susan Sarandon, Center of the world (2000) and “Manhattan Love Story” with Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes.

Wayne Wang

Wayne Wang was born in Hong Kong on January 12, 1949. Before, his family fled from China as a result of the Communist takeover in 1947. He went to the Wah Yan Jesuit High School. When he came to the USA to study film at California College. There he makes his first movie. It was his graduate student project. After this he returned to Hong Kong and began to work for the R.T.H (Radio and Television Hong Kong). At this time, the R.T.H. was THE address for young film directors to start their career. While there, Wayne Wang directed several episodes of the landmark realistic drama series Below the Lion Rock. Which deals with the daily lives of ordinary Hong Kong citizens. His first success he had, when he moved back to America. In San Francisco, he made some movies with Chinese immigrants. The most famous was “Chan is missing”. Wayne Wang produced this film with a micro budget of 27.000 Dollars. Since he became interesting for producers. But the breakthrough came with A Little Bit of Heart. It had its world premiere in the Director's Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival and received a British Academy Award nomination as Best Foreign Film. After this he made some movies, but they were a flop. Wang's first studio film was The Joy Luck Club, based on the best-selling novel by Amy Tan. And this was his first box-office hit. Movies like Smoke and Maid in Manhattan followed and punctuated his status as a top director. Very interesting is the story of his name. Wayne Wang is a strange name for a half Chinese half American boy. He get his name because his grandmother was a big fan of John Wayne. To use the name the grandmother wanted (John Wang), his parents made a deal. That’s why he was called Wayne Wang. At the moment, he is signed up at Capricorn. Wayne’s career is a perfect example for the life in two different worlds of movies. Once the Block Buster producing and once the little, interesting and not for crowds produced movies.

(Sebastian Bludau)