thumb|Wang in San Francisco, 1981
thumb|Preparing a scene from Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart
thumb|San Francisco's Cannery Cinema screens Chan Is Missing in 1982.
thumb|Wang with Wood Moy, Peter Wang and Marc Hayashi, 1981
Wayne Wang (; born January 12, 1949) is a Hong Kong-American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Considered a pioneer of Asian-American cinema, he was one of the first Chinese-American filmmakers to gain a major foothold in Hollywood. His films, often independently produced, deal with issues of contemporary Asian-American culture and domestic life.
His best known works include Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart (1985), Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989), the Amy Tan literary adaptation The Joy Luck Club (1993), Chinese Box (1997), and A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2007). Other films include the Harvey Keitel and William Hurt–starring comedy Smoke (1995), the family film Because of Winn-Dixie (2005), the romantic comedies Maid in Manhattan (2002) and Last Holiday (2006), and the controversial erotic drama The Center of the World (2001).
He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Bodil Award, a Silver Bear, two Golden Shells, with BAFTA Award, Sundance Grand Jury, Golden Lion, and César Award nominations.
Early life
Wang was born and raised in Hong Kong, and named after his father's favorite movie star, John Wayne. In the wake of the ongoing riots in Hong Kong, when he was 17, his parents arranged for him to move to the United States to study and prepare for medical school by going to Los Altos in the Bay Area, where he went to Foothill College. Wang, however, soon put this plan aside when his "eyes were completely opened" by new experience. He turned to the arts,
After graduating from film school, Wang returned to Hong Kong and briefly worked on a popular soap opera at RTHK before being fired and returning to the United States. The unique group of people he met teaching would go on to inspire many elements of his film Chan Is Missing.
Career
Wang has also collaborated with the author Paul Auster on the films Smoke (1995) and Anywhere but Here (1999), Wang has said the film's commercial and critical failure set his career back and led him to work on less personal films
Wang has also worked within the mainstream Hollywood studio system on the films The Joy Luck Club (1993) and Maid in Manhattan (2002). Despite these being his some of his most financially successful films, Wang has described the experience as largely negative, and after the production of Last Holiday (2006) resolved to work exclusively on independent productions.
Personal life
He is married to actress Cora Miao, a former Miss Hong Kong. They live in San Francisco and New York City.
Legacy and impact
Wang is widely regarded as a pioneering figure in Asian-American cinema. His earlier works, such as Chan is Missing (1982), are often cited in film scholarship as foundational works that were instrumental in establishing a distinct Asian-American narrative in American filmmaking. The film's cinema-verité approach, nonprofessional actors, and its focus on the street level everyday life in San Francisco's Chinatown distinguished Wang as one of the first filmmakers to center the experiences of Chinese-Americans in a detailed and nuanced character driven depiction.
Wang's mainstream breakthrough came with The Joy Luck Club (1993), which he directed. It was only the second major American studio film to feature a large majority Asian cast, following Flower Drum Song (1961). While Flower Drum Song holds historical significance as an early major Hollywood production featuring a large Asian ensemble cast, some scholars and critics have noted that its influence on Asian-American cinema and storytelling was limited; the film offered little engagement with Asian and Asian-American identity, did little to alter industry and public attitudes towards Asians and Asian-Americans in Hollywood and the country, and did not lead to increased opportunities for Asian and Asian-American narratives.
By contrast, the Joy Luck Club marked a significant cultural shift in expectations about Asian and Asian-American representation in Hollywood as it presented complex Asian-American characters and family histories. Additionally, its commercial success demonstrated the viability and potential of Asian-American narratives in mainstream films. The Joy Luck Club had a significant number of Asian and Asian-American behind the camera. For example, an Asian-American writer, Amy Tan; costume designer, Lydia Tanji; and a Chinese-American Editor, Maysie Hoy. While developing Crazy Rich Asians, he recognized that it carried a historical weight as the next major studio film to follow the path opened by The Joy Luck Club..
Filmography
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Title
! Notes
|-
|1975
|A Man, a Woman, and a Killer
|Co-director with Rick Schmidt
|-
|1982
|Chan Is Missing
|
|-
|1985
|Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart
|
|-
|1987
|Slam Dance
|
|-
|1988
|Dim Sum Take Out
|Outtakes from Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart
|-
| rowspan="2" |1989
|Eat a Bowl of Tea
|
|-
|Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive
|
|-
|1992
|Strangers
|Segment "Small Sounds and Tilting Shadows"
|-
|1993
|The Joy Luck Club
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1995
|Smoke
|
|-
|Blue in the Face
|Co-director with Paul Auster
|-
|1997
|Chinese Box
|
|-
|1999
|Anywhere but Here
|
|-
|2001
|The Center of the World
|
|-
|2002
|Maid in Manhattan
|
|-
|2005
|Because of Winn-Dixie
|
|-
|2006
|Last Holiday
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2007
|The Princess of Nebraska
|
|-
|A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
|
|-
|2009
|Chinatown Film Project
|Film exhibition at Museum of Chinese in America<br>Segment: "Tuesday"
|-
|2011
|Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
|
|-
|2014
|Soul of a Banquet
|Documentary film
|-
|2016
|While the Women Are Sleeping
|
|-
| 2019 ||Coming Home Again
|
|}
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Title
! Notes
|-
|1982
|Chan Is Missing
|Los Angeles Film Critics Association Independent Film and Video Award<br>Nominated—Golden Montgolfiere
|-
|1985
|Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart
|Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Foreign-Language Film<br>Nominated—Sundance Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic
|-
|1987
|Slam Dance
|Nominated—Deauville Critics Award
|-
|1999
|Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive
|Rotterdam KNF Award
|-
|1995
|Smoke
|Berlin Silver Bear<br>Silver Condor Award for Best Foreign Film<br>Bodil Award for Best American Film<br>Robert Award for Best Foreign Film<br>Nominated—Golden Berlin Bear<br>Nominated—César Award for Best Foreign Film<br>Nominated—David di Donatello for Best Foreign Film<br>Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Foreign Director
|-
|1997
|Chinese Box
|Nominated—Golden Venice Lion<br>Nominated—Seminci Golden Spike
|-
|2007
|A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
|Golden Shell for Best Film<br>CEC Award for Best Film<br>SIGNIS Award
|-
|2011
|Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
|Golden Angel Award for Outstanding Film
|-
| 2019
|Coming Home Again
|Nominated—Tallinn Jury Prize for Best Director<br>Nominated—Tallinn Grand Prize for Best Film
|}
References
External links
- Interview with Wayne Wang October 2011 at subtitledonline.com
- "New look of Asian American films / Festival opens with edgy 'Better Luck Tomorrow,' honors 'Chan Is Missing, San Francisco Chronicle