楊德昌

Edward YANG

Director , Scriptwriter

Born in Shanghai in 1947, Edward YANG moved to Taipei with his family in 1949. He was good at drawing cartoons when he was a teenager. He was graduated from the Electrical Engineering and Control Department of National Chiao Tung University(國立交通大學) in 1967. He moved to the U.S. to study computer design at Florida State University. After receiving a master degree in computer and information science, he found a job as computer engineer before his interest led him to study filmmaking at the University of South California. After spending one semester in the film school, YANG dropped out and worked as a microcomputer and system designer at a research institute in Seattle for seven years. He returned to Taiwan in 1981, and began his film career by writing a script for an independent film “The Winter of 1905,” (一九O五年的冬天) which was an official selection in the “Un Certain Regard” section of the 1982 Cannes International Film Festival. In the same year he wrote and directed a two-part made for TV drama “Fuping” or “Floating Weeds,”(浮萍) which was part of the “Eleven Women”(十一個女人) TV serial produced by Sylvia Chang(張艾嘉) for Taiwan Television. In 1982 YANG was invited by Central Motion Picture Corporation (CMPC中央電影公司) to direct an omnibus film “In Our Time” (光陰的故事) with three other young filmmakers. “In Our Time” marked the beginning of “New Taiwanese Cinema.” The success of this film in the box office paved the way for the four young directors and their colleagues in the Taiwanese New Wave. YANG’s first feature film “That Day on the Beach”(海灘的一天) was nominated for Best Film Award in the 1983 Golden Horse Awards and won the Best Film, Best Screenplay, and Best Director Awards in the Film Appreciation Critics Awards. Cahier du cinema call it “…the most important work in the world missed by Cannes this year.” This film is famous for its complicated and innovative narrative structure. He wrote, in collaboration with HOU Hsiao-Hsien(侯孝賢) and CHU Tien-wen,(朱天文) and directed “Taipei Story”(青梅竹馬) in 1985. It won the FIPRESCI Prize at 1985 Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland. The British film magazine Sight and Sound praised YANG has “the sharpest eyes of a filmmaker since Antonioni.” His next film “The Terrorizers”(恐怖份子) (1986) won many awards in national and international film festivals, including the Grand Jury Prize at 1987 Locarno International Film Festival, Best Director at 1988 Pesaro International Film Festival and Best Film at 1987 British Film Award.. In 1989 Edward YANG founded the independent company Yang & His Gang Filmmakers and made “A Bright Summer Day,” which not only won many awards in national and international film festivals, including Grand Jury Prize at 1991 Tokyo International Film Festival, but also considered by many film critics as ‘Best 10 of 1992’ or ‘Best 100 of All Time.’ YANG’s company expanded its activities to include theater work in 1992, and was renamed Atom Films & Theater. In addition to financing and producing films and theater performances, the company is increasingly involved in hi-tech multi-media experiments and applications. “A Confucian Confusion”(獨立時代) (1994) was invited by Cannes International Film Festival and New York Film Festival. The Daily Variety called it ‘the sharpest film making that could provoke cultural revolution.’ “Mahjong,”(麻將) made in 1996, won the Special Jury Award at 1996 Berlin Film Festival, and Best Director at 3 Continents Festival at Nantes, France. His “A One and A Two”(一一) (2000) won him Best Director Award at 2000 Cannes Film Festival, and was highly praised by film critics all over the world. “A One and A Two” continues YANG’s complicated and multi-layered narrative style to reflect modern metropolitan society in Taiwan. YANG has achieved the highest status in the world as a film director. In 2001 Edward YANG and his new wife established a new company to enter into the realm of internet and animation. Their website (http://www.miluku.com) is a favorite one by youngsters because of its interesting animation works. Edward YANG and HOU Hsiao-Hsien are considered the most important figures in the “New Taiwanese Cinema” movement in the 1980s. Although their film styles are different, however they support each other all the time. In 1985, for example, HOU produced and acted in YANG’s “Taipei Story.” Now, with their directorial achievement and international recognition, they are indeed the legends of “New Taiwan Cinema.”

Honor
2007 The 44th Golden Horse Awards Lifetime Achievement Award

Awards
1994 The 31th Golden Horse Awards Best Original Screenplay "A Confucian Confusion"
1991 The 28th Golden Horse Awards Best Feature Film "A Brighter Summer Day"
1991 The 28th Golden Horse Awards Best Original Screenplay "A Brighter Summer Day"
1986 The 23th Golden Horse Awards Best Feature Film "The Terrorizers"

Nominations
1994 The 31th Golden Horse Awards Best Feature Film "A Confucian Confusion"
1994 The 31th Golden Horse Awards Best Director "A Confucian Confusion"
1994 The 31th Golden Horse Awards Best Art Direction "A Confucian Confusion"
1994 The 31th Golden Horse Awards Best Makeup & Costume Design "A Confucian Confusion"
1991 The 28th Golden Horse Awards Best Director "A Brighter Summer Day"
1991 The 28th Golden Horse Awards Best Art Direction "A Brighter Summer Day"
1986 The 23th Golden Horse Awards Best Original Screenplay "The Terrorizers"
1983 The 20th Golden Horse Awards Best Feature Film "That Day, on the Beach"
1983 The 20th Golden Horse Awards Best Director "That Day, on the Beach"
1983 The 20th Golden Horse Awards Best Original Screenplay "That Day, on the Beach"

Filmography:

Year Title
2017 Taipei Story (Digital Restoration) 
2013 Terrorizers (Digital Restoration) 
1988 Voted by Taiwan’s Film Critics Association as No. 1 film of the Top Ten Films of the 1980s 1988 Silver Leopard at Locarno Film Festival (winner) 1987 Sutherland Trophy of British Film Institute Awards (winner) 1987 Best Screenplay of Asia-Pacific Film Festival (winner) 1987 Best Director Award of Pesaro International Film Festival (winner) 1986 Best Feature Film of the 23rd Golden Horse Awards (winner) 1986 Best Original Screenplay (Yuan Li, Edward Yang) and Best Leading Actress (Cora Miao) of the 23rd Golden Horse Awards (nominee)
2013 In Our Times (Digital Restoration) 
2000 A ONE AND A TWO 
2000 The 53rd Cannes International Film Festival, Best Director Award
2000 Sarajevo Film Festival, Best Film Award
2000 The 25th Toronto International Film Festival
2000 The 19th Vancouver International Film Festival, Chief Dan George Humanitarian Award
2000 The 38th New York Film Festival
2000 The 36th Chicago International Film Festival
2000 The 5th Pusan International Film Festival, A Window on Asian Cinema Section
2000 The 13th Tokyo International Film Festival
2000 The 44th London Film Festival
2001 The 25th Hong Kong International Film Festival, Closing Film
2001 The 15th Fribourg International Film Festival, Grand Prix Jury Award
1996 MAHJONG 
1994 A CONFUCIAN CONFUSION 
1994 Best Original Screenplay (winner) of the 31st Golden Horse Awards 1994 Competition of the Cannes International Film Festival
1991 A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY 
Awards 1992 Silver Screen Award for Best Director of Singapore International Film Festival 1992 Best Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay of the 28th Golden Horse Awards 1991 Special Jury Prize and FIPRESCI Prize of Tokyo International Film Festival 1991 APFF Award for Best Film of the 36th Asia-Pacific Film Festival 1991 Best Director of Festival des trois continents, Nantes Festivals 1992 Berlin Film Festival - In Competition
1986 The Terrorizers 
1985 Taipei Story 
1983 THAT DAY ON THE BEACH  
1982 In Our Times 

As Film Director:
1982 Expectation (in “In Our Time”) (『光陰的故事』 第二段『指望』)
1983 That Day on The Beach (海灘的一天)
1985 Taipei Story (青梅竹馬)
1986 The Terrorizers (恐怖份子)
1991 A Bright Summer Day (牯嶺街少年殺人事件)
1992 Likely Consequence (如果)
1993 Growth Period (成長季節)
1994 A Confucian Confusion (獨立時代)
1996 Mahjong (麻將)
2000 A One and a Two (一一)
As Scripwriter:
1981 The Winter of 1905 (1905年的冬天)
1982 Expectation (in “In Our Time”) (『光陰的故事』 第二段『指望』)
1985 Taipei Story (青梅竹馬)
1986 The Terrorizers (恐怖份子)
1992 Likely Consequence (如果)
1993 Growth Period (成長季節)
1996 Mahjong (麻將)
As Film Composer:
1984 A Summer at Grandpa’s (冬冬的假期)
Edward Yang’s Other Works:
1981 Fuping (or “Floating Weeds,” a part of the “Eleven Women” TV serial )(『浮萍』台視綜合劇場「十一個女人」系列)
1986 Adult Game (a music video in collaboration with HOU Hsiao-Hsien) (『成人遊戲』蔡琴MTV音樂錄影帶,與侯孝賢合作)
2000 Century 21 (an One-act musical play presented in Zuni\'s King Lear series, Hong Kong) (『二十一世紀』香港紀念『李爾王』系列)

Posted date:2005/12/05
Update:2023/03/17
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