Ann Hui

Directing

Ann Hui

Born 1947-05-23 · Anshan, Liaoning Province, China

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.

Acting credits

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love Massacre poster
5.9

Set in San Francisco, Love Massacre follows college student Ivy as she tries to help her friend Joy recover from a breakup. Ivy soon becomes involved with Joy's married brother Chu Chung, who spirals into senseless violence as he breaks into Ivy's dormitory and goes on a delirious killing spree.

Love Massacre

1981

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

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

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

Visions Cinema: Film as a Way of Life: Hong Kong Cinema - A Report by Tony Rayns poster
NR

Examines the early 1980s Hong Kong filmmaking community. Tony Rayns interviews some of the new generation of filmmakers and figures from the wider film culture.

Visions Cinema: Film as a Way of Life: Hong Kong Cinema - A Report by Tony Rayns

1983

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

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

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

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

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

The King of Wuxia Part 1 poster
8.7

The life of the epoch-making master of martial arts cinema, King Hu.

The King of Wuxia Part 1

2022

Keep Rolling poster
8.0

One of Hong Kong's most influential filmmakers, Ann Hui, becomes a “star” for the first time in Man Lim-chung's directorial debut. A forerunner of the New Wave, Hui’s tumultuous, forty-year career is an unequivocal testimony to her unyielding dedication to filmmaking, and her expedition into the metamorphic city. This biopic probes into the acclaimed director’s idiosyncratic world, where we witness her rashness and goofiness, as well as her humanistic concerns for the everyday nobodies which make her films so moving.

Keep Rolling

2020

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

Calling the Shots poster
9.0

Documentary about women in the film industry. Numerous notable actresses and female directors share their thoughts.

Calling the Shots

1988

The King of Wuxia Part 2 poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The King of Wuxia Part 2

2022

Behind the camera

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

The Story of Woo Viet poster
6.4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

Social Worker: Ah Sze poster
NR

Ah Sze (Cecilia Wong Hang-sau) abandons the country for city life, but fails to find refuge from her relatives in Macau and Hong Kong. Writer Joyce Chan realistically portrays a teenaged girl whose choices are finite if she wants to survive. We see Ah Sze in one scene, an innocent girl still in pigtails, in stark contrast with the next scene after she has lost her virginity. It creates an emotional impact that is more than heart-wrecking.

Social Worker: Ah Sze

1976

Visible Secret poster
6.4

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

Visible Secret

2001

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

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

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 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

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

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