Wayne Wang
Wayne Wang is a very well-known Sino-American movie director, screen writer, producer and editor; his connection to the world of cinema began in the instant he was born, since he was named Wayne after the famous actor John Wayne, whom his father was a big fan of. Wang was born on the 12th January 1949 in Hing Kong, where he spent his childhood and most part of his teenage years. At the age of 17, he moved to the United States of America alone, with the support of his parents, in order to finish his high school studies and afterwards start a degree in Medicine. However, young Wayne Wang soon felt a bigger interest towards the artistic field, so after high school he started his superior studies in the California College of Arts and Crafts, in Oakland, where he started studying cinema and television. After finishing his degree, Wayne returned to Hong Kong, in order to gain professional experience in his area of study, so he started working in cinema and television productions.
Soon after, the young director returned to the USA, and he established himself in California; it wasn’t long until he was able to get grants from the American Film Institute and the National Endowment for the Arts, which he used to write and direct his first long movie, that went by the tile “Chan is Missing”, in 1982. In the following years, and until the end of the 80s, Wang wrote and directed five more movies, some short and some long, with emphasis to “Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart” (1985), that was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in the BAFTAs. This first productions were very well received by the critics, so Wang soon started to build a solid reputation in the world of cinema.
Wayne Wang continued to write, direct and produce several movies, and in 1993 he finally reached success among the public, with the adaptation to the big screen of the book “The Joy Luck Club”, by Amy Tan. The notoriety and publicity he got with this movie open the door for collaborations with recognized actors, namely Harvey Keitel and William Hurt, which participated in the movie he filmed after his first big hit, namely “Smoke” (1995), based on the tale “Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story”, written by Paul Auster, who also participated in the production and direction of the movie.
From that point on, a pattern was established in Wang’s career, with the alternation between independent movies, and others more directed to the big public, as is the case of “Anywhere But Here” (1999), with Natalie Portman and Susan Sarandon, or “Maid in Manhattan” (2002), with Ralph Fiennes and Jennifer Lopez.
Wayne Wang is married to the former ex-miss Hong Kong Cora Miao, and he spends his life between San Francisco, in California, and New York. He has written, directed and produced multiple movies, and has received several nominations and awards for his work in important film festivals, such as Berlin International Film Festival, Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, Rotterdam International Film Festival or San Sebastián International Film Festival, among many others.
