Stanley Kwan was born in Hong Kong in 1957. After studying in the Department of Communications in Baptist College, he joined the television station TVB as a trainee actor but soon moved to the production training division. He worked as an assistant to several young directors who went on to launch the ‘new wave’ in Hong Kong cinema – including Ann Hui, Yim Ho and Patrick Tam.
He soon followed them in their paths and directed his own first feature in 1985. His second film Love Unto Waste was invited into competition at the Locarno Film Festival and his third, Rouge, won him a substantial international audience. His 1991 film Actress (a.k.a. Centre Stage) won the Best Actress prize at the Berlin Film Festival for Maggie Cheung, and in 1997 Hold You Tight won both the Alfred Bauer prize for innovation and the Teddy Award for best lesbian/gay feature, again in Berlin. In addition to the feature films that have won him a worldwide art-house following, he has directed shorts, documentaries and a short play which was staged in both Hong Kong and London.
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