Johnnie To | |||||||||||
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杜琪峯 | |||||||||||
 To in an interview forSeptet: The Story of Hong Kong in 2022 | |||||||||||
| Born | (1955-04-22)22 April 1955 (age 69) | ||||||||||
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1972–present | ||||||||||
| Notable work | Full list | ||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||
| Awards | Full list | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 杜琪峯 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 杜琪峰 | ||||||||||
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Johnnie To Kei-fung (born 22 April 1955) is a Hong Kong filmmaker. Popular in his native Hong Kong,[1] To has also found acclaim overseas. Intensely prolific, To has made films in a variety of genres, though in the West he is best known for hisaction andcrime movies, which have earned him critical respect[2][3] and acult following, which includes American filmmakerQuentin Tarantino.[4]
To's biggest international successes includeBreaking News,Election,Election 2 (a.k.a.Triad Election),Exiled,Mad Detective andDrug War; these films have appeared in a number of international film festivals, been distributed theatrically in France and the United States, and been widely sold to foreign countries.
His films, often made in collaboration with the same group of actors,screenwriters and cinematographers, frequently explore themes offriendship,fate and the changing face of Hong Kong society.[5][6] Sometimes described as "multifaceted and chameleonic"[3] due to his ability to switch tones and genres between movies, To is nonetheless seen as having aconsistent style, which involves mixing subdued realism and social observation with highly stylised visual and acting elements.[5] To has citedKing Hu as the director who has influenced his work the most.[7]
To heads the Hong Kong–based production companyMilkyway Image with his frequent co-directorWai Ka-fai.
To began his career at age 17 as a messenger for the Hong Kong television studioTVB.[1] From there To moved up the ladder, working as an executive producer and director for TV shows starting in 1973. In 1978, he shot his first theatrical feature, but continued working in television. In 1983, he directed and screen-wrote the critically acclaimedThe Legend of the Condor Heroes, a dramatised TV series base onthe martial art novel of the same name byJin Yong.
While working as an assistant TV director during theShaw Studios era he directedAll About Ah-Long (1989), starringChow Yun-fat. The film became one of the biggest box office hits that year. In 1988, he co-directedThe Big Heat, his firstaction movie. The film was produced byTsui Hark. The end of the 1980s also saw some of To's biggest commercial successes, the vast majority of which were comedies. His 1988 filmThe Eighth Happiness was that year's highest-grossing movie.[8]
In 1996, To and frequent collaboratorWai Ka-fai formedMilkyway Image, a production house specialising in cost-efficientindependent films made by To and Wai, as well as their frequent collaborators fromLaw Wing-cheung to scriptwriterYau Nai-hoi.
From 1999 to 2001, To was the chief operational officer ofChina Star Entertainment Group.[9] To was appointed to theHong Kong Arts Development Council in 2004 and soon after chaired its Film and Media Arts Group.[10]
In May 2011, To served as a jury member at the2011 Cannes Film Festival.[11]
His filmLife Without Principle (2011) was selected as the Hong Kong's entry forBest Foreign Language Film at the85th Academy Awards,[12] but did not make the shortlist.[13]
In 2016, To served as the Jury President for the10th Asian Film Awards.[14]
In June 2017, To was invited to become a member of theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[15]
In June 2019, To was announced as the Jury President for the56th Golden Horse Awards, but resigned his position in September.[16][17]
In February 2023, To served as a jury member at the73rd Berlin International Film Festival.[18]
Commercially successful in his native Hong Kong, To's films have regularly appeared at international festivals, most notably in Europe and North America. Six of To's films have been featured at theCannes Film Festival:Breaking News premiered as an Out-of-Competition midnight screening in2004;[19]Election was shown in Competition in2005;[20] its sequel,Election 2 (a.k.a.Triad Election) was screened in Out-of-Competition midnight screenings in2006, andTriangle was screened in Out-of-Competition midnight screenings in2007;Vengeance competed for the prestigiousPalme d'Or in2009;Blind Detective was screened in Out-of-Competition midnight screenings in2013.
At theBerlin International Film Festival,Sparrow was shown in Competition in 2008.
At theVenice International Film Festival,Throw Down was screened Out-of-Competition in2004;Exiled was shown in Competition at the festival in2006;Mad Detective was shown in Competition in2007;Life Without Principle was shown in Competition in2011.
In North America, To's films have been consistently screened at theToronto International Film Festival.The Mission,Fulltime Killer,PTU,Breaking News,Throw Down andMad Detective all screened between 1999 and 2007. In 2006,Election,Election 2, andExiled were screened.
In 2005, To received the "Time Machine Career Achievement Award" at theFestival de Cine de Sitges, Europe's most prestigious film festival specializing in genre films. To was also honoured as a "Filmmaker in Focus" of the 2007International Film Festival Rotterdam. In 2009, whileVengeance competed at Cannes, To was made an officer of theFrench Order of Arts and Letters by the FrenchMinister of Culture in recognition of his films.[21]
The annualHong Kong International Film Festival held its 45th edition in April 2021 and To directed a segment of the 2020 anthology filmSeptet: The Story of Hong Kong. The other filmmakers who directed segments in the anthology areSammo Hung,Ann Hui,Patrick Tam,Tsui Hark,Yuen Woo-ping andRingo Lam. The short films were shot entirely on 35mm film, each of them touching on a nostalgic and moving story set across different time periods, with every one being an ode to the city.[22]
In 2024, To was appointed Jury member at the2024 Tokyo International Film Festival for its section 'International competition'.[23]
