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Yee Chih-yen (Chinese:易智言;pinyin:Yì Zhìyán; born 21 November 1959) is a Taiwanese film director, screenwriter, critic, instructor, and writer. He was born inTaipei, Taiwan. His works includeBlue Gate Crossing (2002),Dangerous Mind (2006)--Yee Chih-yen's television debut for theTaiwan Public Television Service that won Best Television Series at theGolden Bell Awards,Meeting Dr. Sun (2014) that won Best Original Screenplay at the TaipeiGolden Horse Film Festival and Awards, as well asCity of Lost Things (2020) that won Best Animated Feature at the TaipeiGolden Horse Film Festival and Awards.
Yee Chih-yen was born inTaipei, Taiwan, where he also completed his undergraduate studies in English (formerly Western Languages and Literature) at theNational Chengchi University. He then completed aMaster of Fine Arts degree in Film at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) between 1983 and 1988.[1] He has received many awards for his directorial works in both feature length films and commercial advertisements. Among his feature length works, he mostly craftscoming of age stories ofqueer teenagers. His cinematic works often revolve around prominent themes that concentrate on the socioeconomic and cultural influences that shape the young characters' experiences. He is a strong advocate formarriage equality and has publicly spoken about the issue. Yee Chih-yen is the current chairman of theTaipei Film Festival (TFF). On November 30, 2016, Yee Chih-yen came out as gay through a public Facebook post on his own page.[2]
Yee Chih-yen started working at theCentral Motion Picture Corporation as a producer and director after returning to Taiwan as aMFA in Film. In addition to creating many popular television commercials, he also received China Times Advertisement Awards for his commercial productions.
In 1995, Yee Chih-yen made his directorial feature-length film debut with theLonely Hearts Club. It was not a box office success, as the film deals with topics the public was disinterested in, such asqueer identities andcoming of age stories. However, the film was screened and nominated in multiple international film festivals, including theToronto International Film Festival and theInternational Film Festival Rotterdam, and even winning the Best Female Lead Award (Pai Bing-bing) at theInternational Film Festival Prague – FEBIOFEST.
In 2002, Yee Chih-yen directedBlue Gate Crossing, which saw both commercial and critical success. Featuring young actorsChen Bolin andGwei Lun-mei, who he will frequently collaborate with in the future, Yee Chih-yen tells the coming of age struggles of queer teenagers. The film was screened at many film festivals, including being nominated at theTokyo International Film Festival, theHong Kong Film Award, theGLAAD Media Award, and theBratislava International Film Festival. It won the Special Jury Prize at theBratislava International Film Festival.Blue Gates Crossing is Yee Chih-yen’s best known work.
In 2005, Yee Chih-yen collaborated with directors fromJapan andChina for the production ofAbout Love, an omnibus film consists of three episodes. Yee Chih-yen directed the Taipei segment.
In 2006, Yee Chih-yen adapted Hou Wen-yong's same name novel into a television series:Dangerous Mind. The television series' depiction of the educational reform in Taiwan and its reflection on issues concerning Taiwanese teenagers were well received by the public. It also went on to win theGolden Bell Awards for Best Television Series and Best Male Actor the following year.
In 2011,City of Lost Things (2020), a feature length animation directed by Yee Chih-yen and produced by Lee Lieh won Top Prize for theTaipei Golden Horse Film Project Promotion. Adding to Yee Chih-yen's long emphasis on the younger generation, this animation also focuses on raising environmental awareness.City of Lost Things is Yee Chih-yen's first feature length animation. Due to its complex production and funding issues, its theatrical release was postponed from 2015 to 2021.
Yee Chih-yen’s fourth feature length film,Meeting Dr. Sun (2013), won Best Original Screenplay at the 2014Golden Horse Awards. Its production and funding were supported by the Feature Film Subsidy funded by theMinistry of Culture of Taiwan.
In March 2021, Yee Chih-yen took over, fromMark Lee Ping-bing, as the Chairman of theTaipei Film Festival (TFF), for his role as a spearheading figure that strives for improvements in the Taiwanese film community, along with consistent recognition in young emerging filmmakers.
In May 2021, Yee Chih-yen’s first animated film,City of Lost Things, was nominated at theAnnecy International Animation Film Festival and the Stuttgart Trickfilm International Animated Film Festival (ITFS). It also won Best Animated Feature at the 57thGolden Horse Awards, along with Best Animated Feature, Best Artistic Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Special Effects at theTaipei Film Festival.
Commercials
Feature Films
Television Series
Music Videos
Books - Authored
Books - Translated
1994 －Alternative Script Writing: Beyond the Hollywood FormulaISBN 957-32-2242-6
On November 25, 2018, drawing an sarcastic analogy between the legalization of same-sex marriages through a special law instead of the Civil Code and offering a master class limited to homosexual director and screenwriter only, Yee Chih-yen posted on Facebook, "In the future, we would only offer master class for homosexual directors and screenwriters only. No heterosexual attendees would be allowed. If heterosexual members would like to attend the class, they would have to listen from outside the window. I talk in very loud voice, so they would not have any issue hearing me. This mode of participation is specially designed for heterosexual members and it is inclusively designed without any discrimination. I am serious. (「未來要開一班只收同性戀學生的導演編劇課，不收異性戀。如異性戀要上課，他們要在窗外聽。我聲音很大，他們當然也可以聽到，這是為他們設計的專門辦法。這樣做，充滿愛很包容沒有歧視啊，我是認真的。」)"[3]
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