Johnnie To

Johnnie To
Born April 22, 1955(1955-04-22) (age 53)
Hong KongAwards Hong Kong Film AwardsBest Director
1999 The Mission
2003 PTU
2005 Election Golden Bauhinia AwardsBest Director
1999 The Mission
2003 PTU
2007 Exiled
Best Film
2006 Exiled Hong Kong Film Critics Society AwardsBest Director
1998 A Hero Never Dies
1999 The Mission
2003 PTU
2005 Election
2007 Exiled Golden Horse AwardsBest Director
1999 The Mission
2004 Breaking News

Johnnie To Kei-Fung (traditional Chinese: 杜琪峯; simplified Chinese: 杜琪峰; pinyin: Dù Qífēng), born April 22, 1955 is a Hong Kong film director and producer. He is a filmmaker who has a local fan base, as well as international recognition.

1 Career
- 1.1 Milkyway Image
2 Film Themes
3 Festivals and Awards
4 Filmography
- 4.1 Director
- 4.2 Producer
5 External links

Career

An assistant TV director in the Shaw Studios era, 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.

Milkyway Image

In 1996, To and frequent collaborator Wai Ka-Fai formed Milkyway Image, a production house that specializes in cost-efficient independent films made by To and Wai, as well their frequent collaborators from Law Wing-Cheong to scriptwriter Yau Nai-Hoi.

Film Themes

Although he has directed extremely popular comedies and romantic comedies 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).

Festivals and Awards

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. Four 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 and his most recent Triangle. 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, Throw Down and Mad Detective all screened between 1999 and 2007. In 2006, Election, Election 2 (aka Triad Election) , and Exiled 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.

In 2007, Election 2 (aka Triad Election) and Exiled were released in the US theatrically. To was also honoured as a "Filmmaker in Focus" of 2007 Rotterdam Film Festival.