Peter Ho-Sun Chan is a renowned Chinese film director, producer, and screenwriter, widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and successful Hong Kong filmmakers.
Born to a Hong Kong film director turned newspaper columnist and a mother who was a homemaker, Chan spent his childhood years in the Tsim Sha Tsui section of Hong Kong, his teenage years in Bangkok, Thailand, and studied film in Los Angeles during the early 1980s.
After working as an assistant director on several films, Chan made his directorial debut with the award-winning Alan and Eric: Between Hello and Goodbye in 1991. He followed this with a string of popular box office successes, including He Ain't Heavy, He's My Father, Tom, Dick and Hairy, and He's a Woman, She's a Man.
In 1996, Chan received international acclaim for Tian Mi Mi, a film about two mainland Chinese immigrants who fall in love and drift apart in pre-handover Hong Kong. The film was a box office success and won an unprecedented nine awards at the 16th annual Hong Kong Film Awards.
Chan's films often explore the hopes and struggles of Hong Kong Chinese couples on the cusp of the 21st century, and he has directed a variety of films in different genres, including horror, war, and musicals.
In 2000, Chan established Applause Pictures, a company dedicated to producing high-quality Pan-Asian films intended primarily for Asian audiences. He has produced a number of films, including Jan Dara, One Fine Spring Day, The Eye series, Three, Three...Extremes, Golden Chicken, Golden Chicken 2, and the animated McDull, The Alumni.
Chan has also directed a number of films, including Going Home, a segment of the horror anthology Three, and Perhaps Love, a musical love story set in Shanghai and Beijing.
In recent years, Chan has turned his attention to creating socially conscious films that explore issues of social concern common to the ordinary Chinese citizen. His films, such as American Dreams in China and Dearest, are widely appealing to Chinese audiences and demonstrate his ability to create popular entertainment that explores important issues.
Throughout his career, Chan has established himself as one of the most accomplished and successful Hong Kong filmmakers, with a body of work that is both critically acclaimed and commercially successful.
