Kang Je-Gyu

Director Kang Je-gyu was born in South Korea. Before directing his hit film Swiri (1999) pronounced “Shee Rhee”, Kang nearly gave up the film business. After struggling for many years, he has finally become one of the premier directors in South Korea. Read the rest of this entry »

Jackie Chan

He is one of the most recognized names in Kung Fu and action movies worldwide, known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing and use of improvised weapons and other items. Jackie has starred in over a hundred movies, and is one of the most recognisable Chinese and Asian movie stars in the world. He sings many of his films theme songs and also has a pop music singing career which began in the 1980s.

Jackie Chan is the son of Lee-Lee and Charles Chan who migrated to Canberra, Australia in 1960 as a refugee from the Chinese civil war and who had previously worked as a maid and butler for the French ambassador to Hong Kong. His Chinese name at birth was Chan Kong-sang (meaning “Born in Hong Kong”). Read the rest of this entry »

John Woo

When Woo’s parents were faced with persecution, his Lutheran family fled to Hong Kong when he was five years old. During this time, the Woo family led a hard life in the slums since his father had tuberculosis and could not work. In 1953, the family was made homeless when their house was burned to the ground in a brush fire. It was only thanks to donations from charities that his family were able to move into another house. Unfortunately, by this time, a wave of crime and violence was beginning to infest Hong Kong’s housing projects. One of Woo’s most vivid childhood memories was of seeing a man being killed on his front steps. Read the rest of this entry »

Ang Lee

Many of his films have focused on the interactions between modernity and tradition. His films have also tended to have a light-hearted comic tone which marks a break from the tragic historical realism which characterized Taiwanese filmmaking after the end of the martial law period in 1987. Lee’s films also tend to draw on deep secrets and internal torment that begin to come to the surface such as the gay-themed films The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Brokeback Mountain (2005), the martial arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), and the comic book adaptation Hulk (2003) Read the rest of this entry »

Akira Kurosawa

Few filmmakers have had a career so long or so acclaimed as Akira Kurosawa, perhaps Japan’s best-known filmmaker. His films greatly influenced an entire generation of filmmakers the world over, ranging from George Lucas to Sergio Leone.

His first credited film (Sugata Sanshiro) was released in 1943; his last (Madadayo) in 1993. His many awards include the Legion d’Honneur and an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.

Kurosawa was born in Omori, Tokyo, the youngest of seven children. He trained as a painter and began work in the film industry as an assistant director to Kajiro Yamamoto in 1936. He made his directorial debut in 1943 with Sugata Sanshiro. His first few films were made under the watchful eye of the wartime Japanese government and sometimes contained nationalistic themes. For instance, The Most Beautiful is a propaganda film about Japanese women working in an armaments factory. Judo Saga 2 has been held to be explicitly anti-American in the way that it portrays Japanese judo as superior to western (American) boxing. Read the rest of this entry »

Hayao Miyazaki

One of the most famous and respected creators of anime, or Japanese animated films. Read the rest of this entry »

Jet Li

His father died when he was two and his mother who was very protective sent him to the Wushu academy at age 8. Read the rest of this entry »

Yukie Nakama

Japanese actress, musician and former idol. Read the rest of this entry »

Kim Sung-Soo

Height: 185cm Read the rest of this entry »

Lee Da-Hae

Born Name: Byun Da-hye Read the rest of this entry »

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