Born in 1969, Florida, America, is one of Hollywood’s most successful filmmakers. His diverse films resonate with audiences worldwide and, as director, his 10 films have grossed over $2 billion at the global box office. Brett began his career directing music videos before making his feature directorial debut at 26 years old with the action comedy hit “Money Talks”. He followed with the blockbuster “Rush Hour” and its successful sequels. Brett also directed “The Family Man”, “Red Dragon”, “After the Sunset”, “X-Men: The Last Stand”, “Tower Heist” and “Hercules”.
In 2013, Brett, along with his business partner James Packer, formed RatPac Entertainment, a film finance production and media company. Since inception, RatPac Entertainment has co-financed 41 theatrically released motion pictures, including “The Revenant”, “Birdman”, “Gravity”, “The Lego Movie”, “American Sniper”, “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” etc., which exceed $7 billion in worldwide box office receipts. RatPac’s co-financed films have been nominated for 51 Academy Awards, 20 Golden Globes and 39 BAFTAs and have won 21 Academy Awards, 7 Golden Globes and 17 BAFTAs.
Baoping Cao, born on January 2nd, 1962, is a renowned Chinese film director, screenwriter, and producer, best known for his films Trouble Makers (2006), The Equation of Love and Death (2008), The Dead End (2015), Cock and Bull (2016), and Einstein and Einstein (2018). As the leading director of Chinese crime films, he has been praised as "the best actor creating machine" for many actors in his works won Best Actor/Actress Awards. He received several accolades including Golden Goblet Award for Best Director at the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival, the 33rd People’s Hundred Flowers Award for Best Film and the Altadis-New Directors Award at the 56th San Sebastian International Film Festival. He served as the jury member for the 20th Shanghai International Film Festival, 11th FIRST International Film Festival, and 19th Mumbai International Film Festival, etc.
Chen Kun, Chinese actor, graduated from Beijing Film Academy.
In 1999, Chen Kun debuted in the film The National Anthem. For over 20 years, he has starred in many film and television works with both artistic and commercial value. His works include films such as Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress,The Knot, the Painted Skin series, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate and Mojin: The Lost Legend. Chen Kun has also appeared in a number of classic TV series, including Love Story in Shanghai, The Story of a Noble Family, Farewell Vancouver and The Rise of Phoenixes.
Chen Kun has won awards such as the Best Actor award at the 30th Hundred Flowers Awards, Outstanding Actor award at the 12th China Huabiao Film Awards and the China Film Performance Art Academy’s Golden Phoenix Award. Films in which he has played a leading role have also been nominated for many domestic and foreign awards, including the Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Globe Awards, the Golden Rooster Awards, and the Hong Kong Film Awards.
Born in 1975 in Vaslui, Romania, is a famous film director and screenwriter. He graduated in 2004 the Film Directing department of the National University of Theater and Film from Bucharest. His debut feature “12.08 East of Bucharest” (2006) won the Camera d’Or prize at Cannes Film Festival. Porumboiu’s next films are “Police, adjective” (2009), “When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism”(2013) and “The Second Game” (2014). His last feature film, “The Treasure”, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Un Certain Talent prize.
Peter Chan is one of the top ten directors in Hong Kong. The film Comrades: Almost a Love Story released in 1996 won 9 awards on Hong Kong Film Awards in the same year. He filmed his first Hollywood movie The Love Letter for Dream Works in 1998. In 2004, the film Three: Going Home directed by him was selected as the opening film for the Out-of-Competition Section in Berlin International Film Festival. He marched into the Chinese mainland market in 2005. In 2013, the box office receipts for his film American Dreams in China hit about RMB 550 million. In 2014, the box office receipts for his film Dearest in mainland China exceeded RMB 300 million. With his foresight and sensibility in film industry, Peter Chan is always one step ahead of his counterparts, which wins him the honor of "Most Valuable Filmmaker" in Hong Kong.
C?lin Peter NETZER was born in 1975 (May, 1st) in Petrosani, Romania. In 1983, he immigrated to Germany together with his parents. From 1984 he has been living in Stuttgart where he graduated from elementary school and high school. In 1994, after graduation, he started the courses of the Theatre and Film University of Bucharest, Romania, Film Direction Department, and in 1999 he obtained his diploma as film director. His short & feature films (both entitled Maria) were screened in prestigious festivals around the world and won awards in Locarno (Grand Prize of the Jury and the Bronze Leopards for the actors). The feature film was also nominated for the EFA Awards in 2003. His next feature, Medal of Honor (2009), was selected in more than 30 festivals and awarded in Thessaloniki with the Silver Alexander and four other prizes, in Turin, Miami, Durres, Los Angeles, Zagreb. Child’s Pose (2013) is his 3rd feature film awarded with the Golden Bear at 63rd Berlin International Film Festival, the first Romanian feature to receive this award and Romania’s official entry for Academy Awards – Best Foreign Language Film in 2013. With his most recent feature, Ana, mon amour (2017), C?lin returned to the Official Selection in Berlinale and received the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution.
Born on 20th February 1969, is a renowned film director, producer and screenwriter from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tanovic is often thought of as the best filmmaker among his peers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Many of his work received international recognition. His debut film “No Man's Land”(2001) won the Best Screenplay Prize in Cannes Film Festival in 2001. One year later the same film won the Best Foreign Language Film in the Academy Awards. After that, he completed “Hell”(2005), one of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s posthumous trilogies. Later he made "Triage"(2009) and "Cirkus Coumbia"(2010). Tanovic’s film "An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker"(2013) received the Best Actor Award and the Grand Jury Prize in the 63rd Berlin Film Festival. His latest work "Death in Sarajevo"(2016) was again recognized and praised in the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prize and FIPRESCI Award this time.
DUAN Yihong, born in Xinjiang province in 1973, is a notable actor in China. He graduated from the Acting Department at the Central Academy of Drama. In 1998, Duan started his career in the National Theatre of China, where he starred in Jinghui Meng's well-acclaimed play Rhinoceros in Love. In 2006, he starred in the TV series Soldiers Sortie, which introduced him to a larger audience. In 2009, he performed in the TV series My Chief and My Regiment. In 2013, he was awarded the Most Anticipated Actor for his performance in White Deer Plain at the 13th Chinese Film Media Awards. In 2015, his performance in The Dead End brought him the Golden Goblet Award for Best Actor at the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival. In 2016, he won the Media Award for Best Performance at the 16th Chinese Film Media Awards. In 2017, he received the Star Asia Award at the 16th New York Asian Film Festival. And in the same year, he also won the Best Actor Award at the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival for his performance in The Looming Storm, which makes him the first Chinese actor who has won two Best Actor Awards in different class A international film festivals.
Born in 1973, Germany, he studied fiction directing at the HFF Munich, where he won numerous awards for his short films, including the Max Ophüls Prize and the Shocking Shorts Award from Universal Studios.
In 2006, Buena Vista released "The Lives of Others", his first feature as writer and director. It won the German and European Film Awards and in 2007 the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
His next feature, “The Tourist”, starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, was released by Columbia Pictures in 2010. It was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress.
Florian is a member of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and the Bavarian and Northrhine-Westphalian Orders of Merit. In 2013 he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He serves on the Board of the American Academy in Berlin, and on the International Council at MoMA in New York. 2015 saw the publication of “Kino!”, a book of Florian's writings on contemporary cinema. He is presently in production on a dramatic thriller about the development of Modern Art in Europe.
Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Fernando Meirelles studied Architecture at USP – Sao Paulo University - and started to direct independent TV programs during the 1980’s. On the 90’s, he directed TV commercials, having made over 700 TV spots. In 1997, he had his first feature film experience co-directing the children’s project “The Wacky Wacky Boy” with Fabrizia Pinto. In 2000 he shot the feature “Maids,” co-directed with NandoOlival. After that, came “City of God,” a film that won more than 52 awards around the world and received four 2004 Academy Award nominations including: Best Director. By that time, Fernando was also producing TV series and directing some of them as well.
In 2004 came “The Constant Gardener,” a British independent production shot in Germany, England and Kenya. The feature was released in 2005 and Fernando was nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for Best Director and won a BAFTA, one Academy Award and one Golden Globe.
In 2007, directed A Canadian/Japanese/Brazilain co-production, “Blindness,” a film based on the novel by José Saramago which premiered in Toronto.
In 2009, Fernando adapted the Canadian miniseries “Slings and Arrows” for a Brazilian television.
“360” was his last feature film, a British/French/Austrian co-production, launched in September 2012.
Gong Li, the only actress in the world who starred in films winning the highest awards at all three European film festivals (Berlin International Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival).
Gong Li served as the jury president and member in several international film festivals, such as the jury president at the 50th Berlin International Film Festival, the 59th Venice International Film Festival, the 16th Tokyo International Film Festival, the 17th Shanghai International Film Festival, as well as the jury member at the 50th Cannes Film Festival.
Internationally, the film Red Sorghum, the acting debut of Gong Li, won Golden Bear at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival. Later, Gong Li won the Best Actress at the 49th Venice International Film Festival for her performance in The Story of Qiu Ju, which was granted the Golden Lion also at the festival. At the Cannes Film Festival in 1994, Farewell My Concubine starring Gong Li was awarded the Golden Palm. In addition, she also won several international awards and titles for the film Breaking the Silence, including the Best Actress and Best Artistic Achievement at the 24th Montreal World Film Festival, the Best Supporting Actress of 59th New York Film Critics Circle and the Best Supporting Actress of the 77th National Board of Review Awards.
In Asia, she was granted the Golden Rooster Awards for twice and The People’s Hundred Flowers Awards for three times, the most prestigious awards in China, titled the Outstanding Actress of Ornamental Column Awards in 2016, the Best Actress at Changchun Film Festival and China Film Director's Guild Awards. Her films also won Hong Kong Film Awards in 2007, Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award in 2007 and the Best Actress of Asian Film Awards. In 2021, with exceptional performance in the film Leap, she received the Best Actress of Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award and the film won the Best Feature Film at the 33rd edition of Golden Rooster Awards.
In the realm of literature and art, Gong Li was honored with the Insignia of Commandeur in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the highest distinction of French literature and art, presented by the Ministry of Culture in France, as the first Chinese actress with the honor. She was also elected as one of the 16 artists who influence human culture and arts by the United Nations and was appointed UNESCO Artist for Peace. In 2019, she was awarded the Women in Motion by the President of the Cannes Film Festival as the first Asian filmmaker to win the award.
In recent years, Gong has starred in the films such as Mulan and Leap.
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek was born (April 29th, 1953) and educated in Poland.
As an Oscar - winning composer, Jan A.P. Kaczmarek has scored more than 60 films, including Finding Neverland, Hachi: a Dog's Tale, Unfaithful, The Visitor, Aimee & Jaguar, War and Peace, Quo Vadis, Total Eclipse, Washington Square.
He moved to America in 1989, where he began composing for theatre, winning a Drama Desk Award for his music for the New York Shakespeare Festival's 1992 production of John Ford's Tis Pity She's A Whore (1992), directed by Joanne Akalaitis. In 2004, Jan won The National Board of Review Awards for Best Score of the Year because of Marc Forster’s Finding Neverland (2004). Also because of this film, he received his first Oscar for Best Original Score at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005. He was also nominated for both Golden Globe Awards and the British Academy Film Awards.
He was commissioned to write symphonic and choral pieces for important national occasions in Poland. He is a member of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and European Film Academy. He founded and directs Transatlantyk Festival in Lodz, Poland. And Kaczmarek was The Jury Chairman at the 25th Warsaw International Film Festival in 2009.
Ki-duk Kimis a famous South Korean director and screenwriter who was once awarded two Best Scenario Award by the Korean Film Council with the screenplays of Double Exposure and Jaywalking. In 1996, Kim made his debut as a director with a movie titled Crocodile and his The Isle was nominated for the Venice InternationalFilm Festival in the same year. He won the Silver Lion (Best Director) for 3-Iron in the BerlinInternational Film Festival in September 2004, the Golden Lion for Pietà in the 69th Venice Film Festival in 2012 and the Best Film Award for One On One in the 71th Venice International Film Festival in 2014. In 2013, his Moebius was also nominated for an award in the Venice International Film Festival.
Leste Chen, director and producer. In 2004, Leste Chen directed the short film Uninhibited, which was shortlisted for the Venice International Film Critics' Week competition and the Tokyo International Film Festival’s Winds of Asia competition. In 2005, he directed his first feature film, The Heirloom. In 2006, he won the New Currents Award at the 11th Busan International Film Festival for his romantic film Eternal Summer. In 2011, he directed the romantic comedy Love on Credit. In 2014, he was nominated for Best Director and Best Screenwriter at the 15th Chinese Film Media Awards for his suspense-filled drama The Great Hypnotist. In 2015, he directed the bizarre comedy 20 Once Again. In 2016, he produced the crime romance One Night Only. In 2017, he directed the crime thriller Battle of Memories. In 2021, the suspense film Home Sweet Home directed by him, and his coming-of-age movie Upcoming Summer is set to be released soon.
Born in Paris, France, on March 18th, 1959, Luc Besson is among the most influential directors in France. Many of his classics have made miracles in box office. From Leon: The Professional, The Fifth Element, Arthur and the Invisibles, to the recently screened Lucy, he has been creating new summits one after another.
In 1983, he directed his first feature film, The Last Battle, which earned him recognition at the Avoriaz Film Festival. Luc Besson started to catch the attention of the French film circle via this film. Two years later he directed Subway, starring Isabelle Adjani and Christopher Lambert. The industry rewarded him with three Cesar Awards. Luc Besson’s visual style was clearly established. Building on his success, he undertook the direction of The Big Blue. Though poorly received at the Cannes Film Festival, the film gained 10 million admissions and went one to become a veritable social phenomenon. Despite an unfavorable critical climate, both La Femme Nikita (1990) and Leon: the Professional (1994) were publicly acclaimed, solidly establishing his popularity in France and earning him an international reputation. Between these films, he directed Atlantis (1991), a documentary aimed at raising awareness about the beauty of nature and the need to protect the environment.
In 1995 he launched into directing a bold science fiction picture: The Fifth Element. The blockbuster became one of the biggest box office hits of any French film in the United States. In 1998, Luc Besson took home a Cesar Award for Best Director. In 1999, he directed his version of Joan of Arc, winning him another nomination as Best Director at the Cesar Awards. In 2000, he was named President of the Jury for the 53rd Cannes Film Festival, becoming the youngest jury president in the history of the festival.He devoted most of the next five years to production. Since creating Europa Corp ten years ago, the studio has become one of the major studios of the European film industry. 17 years later, Luc Besson put forward his second science fiction action film Lucy in 2014 which gained more than US$400 million in box office globally. It has also hit a new record in Luc Besson’s box offices.
Luc Besson was once regarded as the vanguard of France’s young directors, as his films are fashionable and variable in styles. Each and every of his film can cause great expectations. In the 1980s, Luc Besson’s film genre was commented as “Neo-Baroque” by the critics. Since the 1990s, Luc Besson started to compete with Hollywood by way of huge budgets and high-tech manners. He created some genre films featuring entertainment and aesthetics during this period.
Luc Besson’s works demonstrate in-depth reflection on the society and humanity which enables his film to radiate with endless artistic charm. All his films have the same ideological theme: Religion, love and humanity. While telling stories one by one, he is also bringing about “poetic tales” to us.
Mabel Cheung, was born in HongKong , graduated from the University of Hong Kong, majoring in English Literature and Psychology. She holds a Graduate Diploma in Drama and Visual Arts from Bristol University, UK, and an M.F.A. Degree in Film Production from the New York University Graduate Film School. Cheung has become an award-winning director since her debut feature, The Illegal Immigrant (1985), which won her the Best Director Prize at the Hong Kong Film Awards and a Special Jury Award at the 30th Asia Pacific Film Festival. An Autumn’s Tale (1987) signaled another high point of her career, winning four Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay. The Soong Sisters (1997) won three Taiwan Golden Horse Awards and six Hong Kong Film Awards. Other films she has made – City of Glass (1998), Beijing Rocks (2001), and Traces of a Dragon (2003) – have been selected by film festivals worldwide.
Cheung has also produced many popular films, including Painted Faces (1988), Now You See Love, Now You Don’t (1992), and The Moon Warriors (1993). In 2005 she directed Song of Light and Shadows, a stage musical in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Chinese cinema, which was awarded the Gold Prize for Best Performance in China. In 2010 she produced the motion picture Echoes of the Rainbow, winner of the Crystal Bear award at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival, Generation Section, as well as four Hong Kong film awards:Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best New Performer, and Best Original Film Song. Her latest directorial effort is A Tale of Three Cities, starring Jean Lau and Tang Wei. It was nominated for 5 Hong Kong Film Awards in 2016.
Born in Tehran in 1959, Majid Majidi, honored as the nationally celebrated director, is the first Iranian director who won an Academy Award Nomination for the Best Foreign Language Film with his Children of Heaven (1997). Majid worked as an actor at first and then turned to directing some short films. His directorial debut feature—Baduk (1992) was presented at Director’s Fortnight in Cannes 1992. Then with his second venture—Father (1996) he got his first major prize at San Sebastian International Film Festival. Majid is a triple-times-winner of Grand Prix of Americas at Montreal World Film Festival for Children of Heaven (1997), The Color of Paradise (1999) and Baran (2001). Winning the best actor award, his The Song of Sparrows (2008) was well received at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival.
Nadine Labaki,graduated in audiovisual studies from the University of Beirut. In 2004, she embarked to write and develop Caramel, her first feature film, shot two years later and showcased at the Directors' Fortnight in 2007. This joyous, rebellious ode to female camaraderie was distributed worldwide. Nadine Labaki continued to explore the female condition and religious tensions in Where Do We Go Now? which premiered at Un Certain Regard in 2011 and won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival.
In 2008, she received the Insignia of Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters from the French Ministry of Culture. In 2018, Nadine Labaki was selected in the official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival with her powerfully moving Capernaum, a poignant manifesto on damaged childhood, refugees and the cracks in a society that turns its back on humanity, which sent shockwaves around the Croisette. Nadine Labaki won the Jury Prize of the Cannes Film Festival that year. Nominated for the Baftas, the Golden Globes, the French Césars and an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, Capernaum made its Lebanese director the first woman from the Arabic-speaking world to be nominated in this category. In 2019, she was the president of the Un Certain Regard jury at Cannes Film Festival.
Paolo Del Brocco, Born in Rome, Italy in 1963, he is a movie manager, journalist and university professor. Since 1991, he had been working at Rai, Italian National Television. In his long career, he worked at Rai 2, taking charge of network planning that belongs to the Broadcasting Rights Management Division. In 1999, he became the manager of Rai Fiction for Acquisition of Cinema Production and Sales Products. When Rai Cinema Spa was established in 2000, Del Brocco began to be in charge of the finance, administration and management of the new company. In 2007, he was appointed as General Director of Rai Cinema, and from 2010, he has been the CEO.
In Rai Cinema, he produced hundreds of successful movies including Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire, 2012) and Fire at Sea (Fuocoammare, 2016), both of which won the Golden Bears at the Berlinale. His Sacro Gra (2013) earned a Golden Lion at Venice International Film Festival. The tree of life (2011) won a Golden Palm Award. Also, Gomorra, Reality and The Wonders won the Jury Prizes at Cannes Film festival. See You in Texas won the Jury Prize at the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival. In addition, he got several prizes at Tokyo, Locarno, Toronto, EFA and many others.
Born in Beijing, Qing Xu is a Chinese actress. She made her debut in the 1990 film “Life on a String”, directed by Kaige Chen. In 1991, she starred in “Ripples Across Stagnant Water”. In 1994, she starred in” Dongbian Richu Xibian Yu” and she played the main role in “The Emperor's Shadow” in 1995, with Wen Jiang and You Ge. In 2001, Qing Xu starred as Yingying Ren in “The Legendary Swordsman” directed by Jizhong Zhang and in 2009, she starred as Ching-ling Soong in “The Founding of a Republic” and won Hundred Flowers Award and Best Supporting Actress at the Macao International Film Festival. In 2012, she starred in a Hollywood movie “Looper” and participated in the Asian tour of the drama “A Dream like a Dream” by Stan Lai, starring as Xianglan Gu of her prime age. In 2015, she played the role of Chatterbox in Mr. Six produced by Huayi Bros. Media Group and received appraisal for her professional acting.
Other awards she won are: 2016, The 18th China Tripod Award for Best Film Actress in Mr. Six; 2013, the 10th China Tripod Award for Best Drama Actress in “A Dream like a Dream”; 2003, the 20th China Golden Eagle TV Award for Audience’s Favorite Actress in “The Chinese Woman at the Gunpoint of Gestapo”; 1993, the 4th China Film Society of Performing Art Award.
Renny Harlin has established himself Internationally as a filmmaker with the ability to identify and develop a wide range of material. His credits span multiple genres and include both action-oriented blockbusters, comedies and critically acclaimed dramas. Harlin’s films have generated well over a billion dollars in Box Office receipts, in the theatrical market alone. He is globally known for directing the box office smash Die Hard 2: Die Harder starring Bruce Willis. Then, Harlin produced the acclaimed comedy drama Rambling Rose which won him the Spirit Award for the Best Independent Movie of the year. He also directed and produced the blockbuster Cliffhanger starring Sylvester Stallone, which helped establish Harlin as one of Hollywood’s premiere action directors.
Besides, Renny Harlin directed dozens of well-known films including The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), Deep Blue See (1999) and Mind Hunter (2004). In recent years, Renny Harlin directed a range of films in China, including Skiptrace (2016) starring Jackie Chan, Legend of the Ancient Sword (2018) and Bodies at Rest (2019).
Radu Jude, born on 28th of March 1977, in Bucharest Romania, has graduated from Media University of Bucharest (Film Directing Department),in 2003. He directed several award-winning short films, among them, The Tube with a Hat (2006), is the most successful Romanian short film ever, and Alexandra (2007) was selected in over 30 film festivals, including Oberhausen in Germany where he won the Grand Prix.
The Happiest Girl in the World (2009) is his feature film debut. By the time of its release in Romanian theaters, it had already received the CICAE Prize at Berlin International Film Festival and the FIPRESCI Prize at Sofia International Film Festival, etc. Everybody in Our Family (2012) won six Gopo Awards ('Best Feature Film', 'Best Director', 'Best Screenplay', 'Best Actor in a Leading Role', 'Best Actor in a Supporting Role' and 'Best Actress in a Supporting Role'). Aferim! (2015) won the Silver Bear award as 'Best Director' at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival, 'Best Cinematography' at the 6th Beijing International Film Festival and twelve Gopo Awards including 'Best Feature Film' and 'Best Director'. His most recent feature, Scarred Hearts (2016), won the 'Jury Prize' at Locarno International Film Festival 2016.
Robert Mark Kamen was born in the Bronx, New York. He graduated from the public school system of that city, received his BA from NYU in Literature, and his Masters and Ph.D in American Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1979 he sold the first screenplay he ever wrote to Warner Bros. With the proceeds of that sale he purchased 300 acres of raw land in Sonoma California in the Mayacamas Mountains over looking the San Francisco Bay. In 1980 he planted an organic vineyard on the land, which today produces highly regarded Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah wines.
In 1992, while working at Warner Bros. Robert was introduced to the French director and producer Luc Besson by Bill Gerber, an executive Vice President at the studio. Since then, Robert has collaborated almost continuously with Luc, co writing fourteen films to date.
In addition to his work with Besson, which includes Taken 1, 2, and 3, The Fifth Element, The Professional and the Transporter series, Robert has written another dozen films, among them: Taps, The Karate Kid series, Lethal Weapon 3, The Power of One and A Walk in the Clouds.
Simon West is a British born and Hollywood based film director and producer. His films include Con Air starring Nicholas Cage, The General's Daughter starring John Travolta and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie. West is the only live action director ever whose first three films all grossed over $100m at the US box office. West also served as an executive producer on the Oscar nominated Black Hawk Down. He directed the action packed remake of The Mechanic starring Jason Statham and Ben Foster and The Expendables 2 starring almost every action star in the movie world. West is currently in post production on his first Chinese movie SkyFire, the first story of volcano on the Chinese-language screen, which is initiated by a Chinese production company and teaming with the world’s top creatives.
Born in 1958, Hong Kong, China, he directed his first film “Alien Wife” in 1991 and then directed “Twenty Something” in 1994, which proved a hit at the box office in Hong Kong and was selected as one of the top ten movies by Hong Kong Film Awards that year. In 1997, his film “Downtown Torpedoes” pioneered the sub-genre of ‘battle of wits’ action film in Hong Kong. After that, he was considered internationally-known for his works including “Purple Storm” (1999) and “The Accidental Spy” (2001) starred by Jackie Chan. In 2009, his film “Bodyguards and Assassins” took in RMB 290 million at the Chinese box office, and won eight Hong Kong Film Awards, including awards of the Best Film and the Best Director, as well as the fourteenth Best Director Award for overseas Chinese of Chinese Film Awards. In 2015, Teddy won the Best Director Award at China International Film Festival London for his film “Kung Fu Jungle”.
Wuershan is a famous director, screenwriter, and producer in China. As a leading figure of Chinese fantasy films, his films are based on local culture and have a distinctive personal aesthetic. Most of his works are presented in strict industrial production, leading and expanding the highest level of Chinese film industrialization. The films he directed have won many awards in film festivals and are highly recognized by the market and have achieved great successes at the box-office. In 2011, he directed the martial arts comedy The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman. In 2012, he directed the fantasy romance film Painted Skin: The Resurrection, which broke 12 box-office records that year. In 2015, he directed the fantasy adventure film Mojin: The Lost Legend and won the Best Director at the 33rd Hundred Flowers Awards. Fengshen Trilogy is one of Director Wuershan's works to be released, which took seven years of preparation and production. It is the first time in Chinese film history for a mythological epic trilogy to be shot back-to-back.
Born in 1955 in Toyama prefecture, a famous director in Japan. Directed No More Comics in 1986, which was screened at New Directors/New Films in MoMA and the Cannes Film Festival to high acclaim. He gained popularity over works such as “The Yen Family” (1988), “Let’s Go to the Hospital ”(1990), “We Are Not Alone” (1992), “Daddy’s Last Run” (1999), “Secret” (1999), “The Yin-Yang Master” (2001), “Ashura” (2005), “The Battery -Future in Our Hands”(2006), and “Sanpei the Fisher Boy” (2009). His “When the Last Sword is Drawn” won 2002 Japan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year and was nominated for Director of the Year. His “Departures” (2008) won 103 awards both in Japan and overseas, starting with the Grand Prix at the World Film Festival in Montreal and including Japan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year and Director of the Year. In 2009, he won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and held an Oscar in his hand. His latest film is “Tenchi: The Samurai Astronomer” (2012), which is a film adaptation of a novel by Tow Ubukata about Santetsu Yasui, who created the traditional Japanese calendar and starred by Junichi Okada. He has directed 45 films so far.
Fyodor Bondarchuk is a Russian actor, director and producer. Fedor participates in more than 60 films and televisions, including V dvizhenii, Our Own, The 9th Company,The State Counsellor, etc. He is thefounder of Art Pictures Studio production company and Film Bureau group company, and Chairman of BOD of Leningrad Film Studio awarded Order of Lenin. In 2012, the first film produced in IMAX 3D format in Russia's history directed by Fedor Bondarchuk, Stalingrad was submitted for competition on Academy Award on Russia's behalf again.
Zhang Yimou, born in 1950 in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, is a Chinese director, cinematographer, actor, one of the representatives of the fifth generation of Chinese directors, honorary doctor at Boston University and Yale University, and distinguished professor at Beijing Film Academy.
He was enrolled in the Department of Cinematography at Beijing Film Academy in 1978. Zhang debuted as a cinematographer in the One and Eight (1984) and won the title of Outstanding Chinese Cinematographer. He debuted as a leading actor in the Old Well (1986) and won the 11th People’s Hundred Flowers Awards for Best Actor, Best Actor at the 2nd Tokyo International Film Festival and the 8th Golden Rooster Awards for Best Actor. His directorial debut Red Sorghum (1987) won the Golden Bear Award at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival. His directorial works, namely the Red Sorghum, Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, The Story of Qiu Ju, Not One Less and The Road Home, between 1987 and 1999 won multiple awards at home and abroad, including three nominations for the Academy Awards and five nominations for the Golden Globes. Zhang started directing commercial films since 2002, such as the Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Curse of the Golden Flower and The Flowers of War, which set new gross box office record in China twice and earned the highest annual gross box office of Chinese films four times. In 2021, he was named the 34th Golden Rooster Awards for Best Director for the Cliff Walkers, and the Best Director at the 15th Asian Film Awards for the One Second. He directed the Snipers in 2022. The film Full River Red (2023) directed by Zhang earned a gross box office of RMB 4.5 billion, ranking sixth in the gross box office of Chinese films.
He also served as the Creative Director of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Summer Games Beijing 2008, Director of the G20 Summit Evening Gala held in Hangzhou in 2016, and Creative Director of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. As such, Zhang Yimou became the world’s first Creative Director of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at both the Olympic Summer Games and Olympic Winter Games.
Moreover, Zhang Yimou once worked as a member of the International Jury of the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival, Jury President of the 18th Tokyo International Film Festival and Jury President of the 64th Venice International Film Festival.
Zhang Songwen,Chinese actor. His representative works include The Pioneer, 1921,Break Through the Darkness, The Shadow Play, The Bad Kids, End of Summer and Spring Fever. He won Best Supporting Actor at the Chinese Film Media Awards in 2019 with his brilliant acting in The Shadow Play. He also won Movie Actor of the Year at the SIR Film and Entertainment Conference in 2019. He starred in the film End of Summer, which won the KNN Award in the New Currents section, the only international competitive section of the Busan International Film Festival.
Aside from acting, he is a famous performance coach in China. His unique teaching ideology and effective training method can rapidly improve actors’ performing abilities and aesthetics. From 2019 to 2020, he has attended acting shows as a tutor and performance coach for two years in a row, such as REAL ACTOR and I AM THE ACTOR 3.
Zhang Songwen, born in 1976 in Shaoguan, Guangdong Province, is a Chinese actor and acting coach who graduated from Beijing Film Academy.
Zhang starred in the comedy Fake Fiction in 2012. He starred in the suspense The Shadow Play in 2016. The feature film End of Summer he starred in 2017 was shortlisted for the New Currents Award of the 22nd Busan International Film Festival and won the KNN Award. He starred in the spy film Saturday Fiction in 2018. And he appeared in the crime film Dust To Dust in 2019. Zhang played the leading role in the crime action film Break Through the Darkness. And he won the Media Choice Award for Best Actor at the Media Honors Ceremony of China Movie Channel in 2022 for the film The Pioneer.
Zhou Xun is a renowned Chinese Actress, Singer, and Environmental Advocate.
Her feature film credits include the likes of Suzhou River, Perhaps Love, The Banquet, Painted Skin, The Equation of Love and Death, The Message, The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, The Great Magician, The Silent War, Cloud Atlas, Overheard 3, and Women Who Know How to Flirt Are the Luckiest. Noted television credits include: “Palace of Desire”, “April Rhapsody” , “Ripening Orange”, “Love Story in Shanghai” , and “Red Sorghum.”
She has appeared in a total of 55 motion picture and television productions (9 television shows and 26 feature films) since her debut, and has accrued 17 Best Actress accolades and one Best Supporting Actress award from the likes of the Paris Film Festival, the Asian Film Awards, the Chinese Film Media Awards and The People's Hundred Flower Award. She is to-date the only Mainland Chinese actress to receive a Hong Kong Film Award in the Best Supporting Actress category, as well as the first artiste to receive Best Actress accolades from all three top film awards in Chinese-Language Cinema: Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, Hong Kong's Hong Kong Film Awards, and Mainland China's Golden Rooster Awards.
Zhou Xun has also been an ardent advocate for the environmental cause, using her international fame to spread “green ideas” to everyone in every corner of the world. In 2010, she was named the 2010 Laureate of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 's Champions of the Earth along with ten other environmentalists, becoming the first entertainer in the world to receive this honor. In the same year, Zhou Xun was named one of CNN’s “ 25 Greatest Asian Actors ”. In 2011, Zhou was inducted into the World Economic Forum's “Forum of Young Global Leaders”, once again as the first Asian entertainer to receive this honor. She was also selected as the 2011 Ambassador for the China-Euro Youth Exchange Year. In 2014, the French Government honored Zhou with The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters), in recognition of her achievement and contribution in film, environment and culture communication fields. July of the same year,the “ONE NIGHT charity concert for Children with Special Needs” initiated by the Zhou Xun Workshop sought to raise money for the "Focus on the Nine Kinds of Children With Special Needs Project",ultimately generating over three million dollars RMB.