Ann Hui

Directing

Ann Hui

Born

1947-05-23 (79)

Place of birth

Anshan, Liaoning Province, China

Known for

Directing

Credits

76 titles

Ann Hui On-wah (born 23 May 1947 to a Chinese father and a Japanese mother) is a Hong Kong film director, film producer and occasional screenwriter, one of the most critically acclaimed amongst the Hong Kong New Wave.

Known for

Golden Horse Awards poster
9.0

The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards (Chinese: 台北金馬影展; pinyin: Táiběi Jīnmǎ Yǐngzhǎn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-pak Kim-má iáⁿ-tián) is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is usually held in November or December in Taipei, although the event has also been held in other locations in Taiwan in recent times

Golden Horse Awards

1962

Celebrity Talk Show poster
9.5

No synopsis available yet.

Celebrity Talk Show

1989

Winners & Sinners poster
7.0

Five friends are released from prison and do their best to stay out trouble. While trying to mind their own business (and run their 5-Star Cleaning Service), they are caught up in a war between rival Triad gangs fighting for control of the counterfeit currency market.

Winners & Sinners

1983

The 40th Anniversary of Chinese Film Since China's Reform and Opening-Up poster
NR

Documentary about China's film industry and the monumental changes in the past 40 years from beginning with propaganda films to the "5th generation" filmmakers and beyond, who embraced art and commercial films to make China the second largest box office market in the world after Hollywood.

The 40th Anniversary of Chinese Film Since China's Reform and Opening-Up

2018

Action poster
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

Action

2021

Twin Dragons poster
6.9

Identical twins are separated at birth, one becoming a streetwise mechanic, and the other an acclaimed classical concert conductor. Finally meeting in adulthood, they're mistaken for the other and entangled in each other's worlds.

Twin Dragons

1992

Film credits

2020s · 4 titles

2010s · 5 titles

I Am Somebody poster
6.2

A young man travels from his hometown to Hengdian, the place where the country's biggest movies are filmed. Like many others, his dream is to become a movie star. However, the life of an actor proves to be very harsh, and only a select few will ever be anything more than extras.

I Am Somebody

2015

Echoes of the Rainbow poster
7.6

Told through the eyes of sticky-fingered eight-year-old boy Big Ears, Echoes of the Rainbow takes place in a close-knit grassroots community in 1960s Hong Kong. Big Ears' mother and father run the neighborhood shoe store, and his older brother Desmond is every family's dream son - an outstanding athlete with grades worthy of Hong Kong's best school.

Echoes of the Rainbow

2010

No. 7 Cherry Lane poster
4.8

Set in Hong Kong in 1967 — a time of complex politics when it was still a British colony — No. 7 Cherry Lane revolves around a love triangle between a university student, a single mother and her teenage daughter.

No. 7 Cherry Lane

2019

She Recognized the Storm: Xiao Hong and Her Golden Era poster
7.3

Documentary on the ups and downs of the female writer Xiao Hong's life experience, her works, her love and the golden era she lived in.

She Recognized the Storm: Xiao Hong and Her Golden Era

2014

Landscape On the Other Side: Hong Kong Cinematographer Bill Wong poster
NR

Bill Wong works on a wide variety of films, some of modern setting, some with historical backgrounds; some are award winners, some lesser known. As a cinematographer, he does not strive for personal style. Instead, he concentrates on fulfilling the potential of the film and realizing his director’s designs. He is a consummate team player. This documentary features interviews with Wong and five directors with whom he has worked – Patrick Tam, Ann Hui, Tony Au, Lee Chi-ngai and Shu Kei, tracing the paths on which they have travelled together.

Landscape On the Other Side: Hong Kong Cinematographer Bill Wong

2010

2000s · 6 titles

Simply Actors poster
4.8

When undercover cops start losing their lives to drug lords who blame their demise on "poor acting", the Police Force counters by sending Hong Kong's Finest to acting school.

Simply Actors

2007

Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone poster
6.9

Gang leader Jimmy Yam gathers all of his closest people after receiving a death threat in order to reveal their true nature.

Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone

2000

My Name Is Fame poster
6.8

Fai, a talented actor who has won the Best New Artist of the Hong Kong Film Awards and always plays leading roles in television, is an arrogant guy who does not cherish the opportunities given to him. As he keeps on criticizing his co-workers, his career and popularity gradually deteriorates. He is not offered leading roles anymore and has to take the parts of villains and rapists. Finally, he has even lost his job at the TV station. Fai becomes extremely depressed, but a twist of fate makes him become an agent for extras. As Fai gives pointers to a young girl named Fei, who truly loves acting, he regains his own enthusiasm towards acting and life.

My Name Is Fame

2006

Forever and Ever poster
9.0

Based on a true story, Xiao Fu was contracted HIV virus through blood transmission due to hemophilia. He made his difference by writing a book before his death to change the public's view toward patients with HIV.

Forever and Ever

2001

Merry-Go-Round poster
3.7

In a summer holiday, a father (Mr. Kuk) with his children (Ku Fung and Little Kuk-Ku) has decided to open a noodle bar on a 2-month lease. He has great expectations for his noodle business. Kuk Fung quickly falls in love with Carlily (Kuk Fung's friend). Meanwhile, Little Kuk-ku has met a new friend, Wo who is working at the noodle bar. As the vacation is going, the nodle bar has to be closed. Mr Kuk's business performance didn't come up to his expectations, but it ends up with two puppy loves.

Merry-Go-Round

2001

Fighting To Survive poster
5.0

Bon Bon, a resident of Tuen Mun, who's always attempting to implement his latest pyramid scheme. Bon Bon saves daffy local girl Snooker from a potential rapist and decides to implement his latest scheme, "One Dollar Bodyguard": he'll protect women on their evening strolls for one HK dollar. Bon Bon has to attend to his own problem, which is his inability to ride in a moving vehicle, that strands him in Tuen Mun for life. And there's the romantic issue with Snooker to resolve.

Fighting To Survive

2002

1990s · 9 titles

Twin Dragons poster
6.9

Identical twins are separated at birth, one becoming a streetwise mechanic, and the other an acclaimed classical concert conductor. Finally meeting in adulthood, they're mistaken for the other and entangled in each other's worlds.

Twin Dragons

1992

Who's the Woman, Who's the Man? poster
5.8

Music producer Sam and his cross-dressing protege Wing have finally professed their love for another, but now what?

Who's the Woman, Who's the Man?

1996

The River poster
6.8

A young man develops severe neck pain after swimming in a polluted river for a movie shoot, but nobody can provide him any relief.

The River

1997

Sunshine Friends poster
7.0

The war of ratings is over when Mars TV, with its two popular shows bears down Earth TV. Mak, the boss of Mars TV, plan to takeover Earth TV while Lee, the boss of Earth TV wants to jump from a skyscraper to make publicity for his station.

Sunshine Friends

1990

Summer Snow poster
7.5

Tells the story of the relationship between a widower with Alzheimer's disease and his daughter-in-law, May Sun, who is a housewife in her forties trying cope with the upheavals in her family.

Summer Snow

1995

Somebody Up There Likes Me poster
8.0

A young rebel falls for the sister of a local kickboxing champion. In order to stay out of jail, he is advised by his parole officer to begin training in the art of kickboxing. His romance with the girl blossoms but comes to a crashing halt when he is forced to face her brother in the ring. When the brother is accidentally killed, the romance ends and the young kickboxer participates in illegal street fights. When the kickboxer has a shot at the Golden Belt against the Japanese champ, he soon learns that this may be the final fight of his life. Written by Ninja01

Somebody Up There Likes Me

1996

Ordinary Heroes poster
7.2

Ordinary Heroes narrates the life stories of an advocate, a prostitute, a social worker, and a priest during Hong Kong’s social movements of the 1970s and 1980s. The film is based on true events.

Ordinary Heroes

1999

No artwork available
NR

Obstetrician Joey Fong helps childless couple Shiu and Lan kidnap an unloved child and then decides she wants to have a baby with heartless news reporter husband Terrence.

The Meaning of Life

1995

As Time Goes By poster
8.0

1997 documentary, part of the Taiwan-produced series "Personal Memoir of Hong Kong", is both a self-portrait and a depiction of Hong Kong during the 40 years preceding the handover by the United Kingdom to China.

As Time Goes By

1997

1980s · 5 titles

Series credits

Golden Horse Awards poster
9.0

The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards (Chinese: 台北金馬影展; pinyin: Táiběi Jīnmǎ Yǐngzhǎn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-pak Kim-má iáⁿ-tián) is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is usually held in November or December in Taipei, although the event has also been held in other locations in Taiwan in recent times

Golden Horse Awards

1962

Golden Horse Awards poster
9.0

The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards (Chinese: 台北金馬影展; pinyin: Táiběi Jīnmǎ Yǐngzhǎn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-pak Kim-má iáⁿ-tián) is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is usually held in November or December in Taipei, although the event has also been held in other locations in Taiwan in recent times

Golden Horse Awards

1962

Celebrity Talk Show poster
9.5

No synopsis available yet.

Celebrity Talk Show

1989

The 40th Anniversary of Chinese Film Since China's Reform and Opening-Up poster
NR

Documentary about China's film industry and the monumental changes in the past 40 years from beginning with propaganda films to the "5th generation" filmmakers and beyond, who embraced art and commercial films to make China the second largest box office market in the world after Hollywood.

The 40th Anniversary of Chinese Film Since China's Reform and Opening-Up

2018

Action poster
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

Action

2021

Ann Hui with the Famous poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Ann Hui with the Famous

1992

大侠胡金铨 poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

大侠胡金铨

2022

Behind the camera

Our Time Will Come poster
6.0

In Japanese-occupied Hong Kong, a school teacher and her would-be-fiancé link up with Chinese guerrilla fighters, forging their own path to freedom.

Our Time Will Come

2017

Fagara poster
7.3

After her father died, a Hong Kong girl discovers she has two hitherto unknown sisters, one in Taiwan and one in China. To settle her father's debt, she must reunite with them to run the family's hot pot restaurant.

Fagara

2019

A Simple Life poster
7.5

After suffering a stroke, an altruistic maid announces that she wants to quit her job and move into an old people's home.

A Simple Life

2012

A Simple Life poster
7.5

After suffering a stroke, an altruistic maid announces that she wants to quit her job and move into an old people's home.

A Simple Life

2012

Swordsman poster
7.0

A kung-fu manual known as the Sacred Scroll is stolen from the Emperor's library. An army detachment is sent to recover it. Meanwhile, a young swordsman and his fellow disciple are accidentally drawn into the chaos.

Swordsman

1990

Boat People poster
7.6

A Japanese photojournalist revisits Vietnam after the liberation to document the nation, and begins following and documenting the young children from a poor Vietnamese family.

Boat People

1982

Love After Love poster
5.6

The film tells the story of a young girl who travels from Shanghai to Hong Kong in pursuit of education, but ends up working for her aunt seducing rich and powerful men.

Love After Love

2021

The Story of Woo Viet poster
6.5

Wu Viet is a Vietnamese refugee who wants to leave his country behind and start over in the United States. First, he must make his way to Hong Kong, but as he passes through Thailand, he meets a beautiful woman who travels with him. Wu and his new love end up in a refugee camp in Thailand, where they discover many of their countrymen are disappearing under mysterious circumstances. As Wu tries to learn the truth about what's happening, he discovers his life is in danger, and he must flee to the Philippines for safety.

The Story of Woo Viet

1981

Septet: The Story of Hong Kong poster
6.9

A seven-part anthology film exploring the history of Hong Kong from the 1940s to present day.

Septet: The Story of Hong Kong

2022

The Secret poster
6.1

A tangled murder mystery unfolds amid a complex love triangle. As conflicting witness accounts emerge, the truth about the victim and key suspects is revealed, leading investigators down a dark and twisty path where nothing is as it seems.

The Secret

1979

Zodiac Killers poster
4.7

Hong Kong student Ben Lee becomes friends with his mainland Chinese classmate Chang Chih while studying abroad in Japan. Ben is unmotivated to study and only cares about money and on the other hand, whenever Chih encounters a Chinese person, he would ask whereabouts of his childhood sweetheart. Ming is also from Hong Kong and in order to elevate his social status, he becomes involved with a bar hostess and owner Yuriko, hoping to become Yakuza leader Yamada Ishikawa's brother in-law.

Zodiac Killers

1991

The Stunt Woman poster
7.2

After moving to Hong Kong from China, a young martial artist starts a promising career as a stuntwoman. She begins to feel accepted in the business, but a passionate affair with a playboy ends up breaking her heart and unleashing her wild side.

The Stunt Woman

1996

The Golden Era poster
6.7

The story of writer Xiao Hong comes alive through memories of her great love affair, literary influence and escape from China during World War II.

The Golden Era

2014

Love in a Fallen City poster
6.4

Taking place in 1941, Love in a Fallen City centers on Pai, a young woman who has been ostracized by her family for divorcing her rich husband. A local match-maker, Mrs. Hsu, takes pity on Pai and decides to bring her to Hong Kong, under the guise of employing her as the Hsu's nanny, but in reality to introduce her to Fan. Pai and Fan seem to hit it off, but Fan's refusal to marry Pai soon sours things. However, as the Japanese begin to invade Hong Kong, the two begin to realize their true feelings for each other.

Love in a Fallen City

1984

The Opium War poster
6.3

The story of the Opium War between China, in the waning days of the Qing Dynasty, and the British Empire, in the 1830s, and the subsequent takeover of Hong Kong by Britain; through the eyes of the key figures, fiercely nationalistic Lin Zexu, and opportunistic British naval diplomat Charles Elliot.

The Opium War

1997

Visible Secret poster
6.4

A man develops a relationship with a woman who has mysterious supernatural abilities.

Visible Secret

2001

The Romance of Book and Sword poster
5.8

The story is based on the popular novel developed from folk legend. It goes that the Manchurian emperor Qianlong of China (circa 18th Century) was actually the son of a Han Chinese, the subject ethnicity. His brother of blood, Chen Jialuo just happened to be the chief of the Red Flower Society, an anti-Manchu secret society. Chen, a learned scholar, thought he could get his brother turn his back on the Manchu and restore the Han Chinese reign. But the story was ended by brutal clearence of the society members. It reflects one of the dark pages in Chinese culture, that ethics and humanity always become impotent when countered with power.

The Romance of Book and Sword

1987

The Romance of Book and Sword poster
5.8

The story is based on the popular novel developed from folk legend. It goes that the Manchurian emperor Qianlong of China (circa 18th Century) was actually the son of a Han Chinese, the subject ethnicity. His brother of blood, Chen Jialuo just happened to be the chief of the Red Flower Society, an anti-Manchu secret society. Chen, a learned scholar, thought he could get his brother turn his back on the Manchu and restore the Han Chinese reign. But the story was ended by brutal clearence of the society members. It reflects one of the dark pages in Chinese culture, that ethics and humanity always become impotent when countered with power.

The Romance of Book and Sword

1987

Song of the Exile poster
7.6

Set in the early 1970s, it tells the story of a Chinese-Japanese student who returns to her native Hong Kong after graduating from a university in London. Once she arrives back home, she and her family begin to fight, largely due to cultural and societal conflicts between her mother and herself.

Song of the Exile

1990

No artwork available
NR

The second episode of Ann Hui and Yim Ho’s “ICAC” Series (1978) around bribery and corruption

ICAC: Steak Fee

1978

Night and Fog poster
7.3

A troubled marriage fueled by the husband's jealousy, abuse, and financial struggles takes a dark turn as he becomes increasingly controlling, and subjects his wife to unbearable torment.

Night and Fog

2009

Night and Fog poster
7.3

A troubled marriage fueled by the husband's jealousy, abuse, and financial struggles takes a dark turn as he becomes increasingly controlling, and subjects his wife to unbearable torment.

Night and Fog

2009

No artwork available
NR

The last episode of Ann Hui and Yim Ho’s “ICAC” Series (1978), unfortunately, was banned by the authorities until its initial release at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in 1999

ICAC: Investigation

1978

Summer Snow poster
7.5

Tells the story of the relationship between a widower with Alzheimer's disease and his daughter-in-law, May Sun, who is a housewife in her forties trying cope with the upheavals in her family.

Summer Snow

1995

Summer Snow poster
7.5

Tells the story of the relationship between a widower with Alzheimer's disease and his daughter-in-law, May Sun, who is a housewife in her forties trying cope with the upheavals in her family.

Summer Snow

1995

The Postmodern Life of My Aunt poster
5.6

Ye Rutang, a single-living woman in her late fifties, struggles to maintain a dignified life amid the dangers of Shanghai.

The Postmodern Life of My Aunt

2007

Peony Pavilion poster
6.8

In 1930s Suzhou, the fifth wife of an opium-addicted aristocrat, her husband's female cousin, and a handsome instructor develop an intense relationship.

Peony Pavilion

2001

The Way We Are poster
7.1

Cheung, a single mother living in an area with high crime rates, works hard to provide for her son while helping out her elderly neighbor.

The Way We Are

2008

No artwork available
NR

The fifth episode of Ann Hui and Yim Ho’s “ICAC” Series (1978) around bribery and corruption

ICAC: Black and White

1978

July Rhapsody poster
6.5

Secondary school teacher Lam Yiu-kwok is suffering from a mid-life crisis—his peers have all become more successful than him; his relationship with his wife, Chan Man-ching, is in trouble when her old flame returns, and he finds himself tempted by a 17-year-old student who has a crush on him.

July Rhapsody

2002

July Rhapsody poster
6.5

Secondary school teacher Lam Yiu-kwok is suffering from a mid-life crisis—his peers have all become more successful than him; his relationship with his wife, Chan Man-ching, is in trouble when her old flame returns, and he finds himself tempted by a 17-year-old student who has a crush on him.

July Rhapsody

2002

No artwork available
NR

The fourth episode of Ann Hui and Yim Ho’s “ICAC” Series (1978), with three short stories combined

ICAC: Section Nine

1978

No artwork available
NR

In “Homeward Bound”, the corrupt Health Inspector is not your usual villain; he spouts poetry and has a loving, dutiful wife. He's also a sybarite who balances his life around a shrewd, money worshipping concubine and a mistress that is romantic, if impractical. His increasing desolation as all three women leave him is palpable and sagaciously reflects the ephemeral nature of life.

ICAC: Homeward Bound

1978

Visible Secret 2 poster
8.0

The newlyweds Jack and Ching move into a new apartment. Jack gets smacked by a car and goes into a coma, but a miraculous recovery occurs. Jack begins having visions of death around the house and he finds Ching has begun to act strangely. Jack relays his suspicions to Ching, but she thinks he might be "troubled". September, an female friend of Jack's, joins him on a fact-finding hunt. What they find isn't too comforting, as it seems that Ching may have more than a few secrets from her new husband

Visible Secret 2

2002

Beautiful 2012 poster
5.2

A collection of shorts by four East Asian directors: Ann Hui on a male-to-female sex change, Kim Tae-yong on an emotional imposture, Gu Changwei on pregnancy in China and Tsai Ming-Liang on time and the city of Hong Kong.

Beautiful 2012

2012

Eighteen Springs poster
7.3

In 1930s Shanghai, a young office girl falls in love with a factory worker in the same company.

Eighteen Springs

1997

Eighteen Springs poster
7.3

In 1930s Shanghai, a young office girl falls in love with a factory worker in the same company.

Eighteen Springs

1997

Starry Is the Night poster
6.5

As Cai Mei, a single 40 year old woman and a social worker starts a relationship with a teen-ager Tian-Ah, she remembers her relationship when she was young with her professor, a married man older than her.

Starry Is the Night

1988

Ordinary Heroes poster
7.2

Ordinary Heroes narrates the life stories of an advocate, a prostitute, a social worker, and a priest during Hong Kong’s social movements of the 1970s and 1980s. The film is based on true events.

Ordinary Heroes

1999

Ordinary Heroes poster
7.2

Ordinary Heroes narrates the life stories of an advocate, a prostitute, a social worker, and a priest during Hong Kong’s social movements of the 1970s and 1980s. The film is based on true events.

Ordinary Heroes

1999