Johnnie To
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Johnnie To Kei-fung (Chinese: 杜琪峰; pinyin: Dù Qífēng) (born April 22, 1955) is a Hong Kong film director and producer; he has his local fan base as well as international standing.
An assistant TV director in the Shaw Studios era, Johnnie To became famous when his 1989 film All About Ah Long, starring Chow Yun-Fat, became one of the biggest box office hits in that year.
Although he has directed extremely popular comedies and rom-coms like Justice, My Foot, Needing You and Love on a Diet, his more serious works are mostly about masculinity and male bonding (The Mission, and Running Out of Time), or simply about guns (again, The Mission). Another theme is fate and the concept that our lives may not be under our control (PTU, Expect the Unexpected and Running on Karma).
To's films have played around the international festival circuit. Throw Down was screened Out-of-Competition at the Venice Film Festival in 2004, and Exiled was shown in Competition at the Venice Film Festival in 2006. Three of his movies were featured in the Cannes Film Festival: Breaking News in the Out-of-Competition midnight screening in 2004, and Election in Competition in 2005. Election 2 (aka Triad Election) was screened in Out-of-Competition midnight screening at Cannes Film Festival in 2006.
In North America, To's films have been consistently screened at the Toronto Film Festival. The Mission, Fulltime Killer, PTU, Breaking News, and Throw Down all screened between 1999 and 2005. In 2006, Election, Election 2 (aka Triad Election) , and Exiled were screened.
In 2007, Election 2 (aka Triad Election) and Exiled will be released in US theatrically.
[edit] Trivia
- Frequently collaborates with Wai Kar Fai , another TV crew-member turned film director
- Frequently casts newcomers in minor but significant roles in his films
- In 2005, Johnnie To received the Time Machine Career Achievement Award at Festival de Cine de Sitges, the Europe's most prestigious film festival specializing in genre films.
- Johnnie To was honoured as Filmmaker in Focus of 2007 Rotterdam Film Festival
[edit] Selected filmography
- The Big Heat (1988)
- The Eighth Happiness (1988)
- All About Ah Long (1989)
- Justice, My Foot (1992)
- The Heroic Trio (1993)
- The Longest Nite (1998) (Producer)
- Expect the Unexpected (1998) (Producer)
- Running Out of Time (1999)
- The Mission (1999)
- Needing You (2000)
- Wu yen (2001)
- Fulltime Killer (2001)
- Fat Choi Spirit (2002)
- My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (2002)
- Turn Left, Turn Right (2003)
- Running on Karma (2003)
- PTU (2003)
- Breaking News (2004)
- Throw Down (2004)
- Yesterday Once More (2004)
- Election (2005)
- Election 2 (aka Triad Election (US)) (2006)
- Exiled (2006)
