Hong Kong film industry stalwart director Derek Yee spoke at a forum on Hong Kong’s “Director Succession System” at the Shanghai International Film Festival about his responsibility to foster the young generation of filmmakers. The panel featured young filmmakers including Stephen Fung, T. Keen Wong, Wong Hui, Norris Wong, and Nic Cheuk.
SIFF’s opening film, Afterpeace, was directed by T. Keen Wong and produced by Yee. Wong, who started his career at the age of 19 as Yi’s script supervisor for “I Am Somebody,” has consistently followed in Yi’s footsteps.
“I asked him to follow a project from start to finish. Throughout my career as a producer, I’ve noticed that many assistant directors who transition to directing tend to pack up their bags as soon as shooting is over and leave the rest of the work to post-production coordinators. That means they’re missing out on a comprehensive, full-cycle filmmaking experience,” the veteran filmmaker said. “His strength is his dedication to every project from inception to completion. Every assistant director dreams of becoming a director. When I finally felt he had matured, an opportunity came from ‘Director Succession’ and I asked him to write the script.”
Yi also talked about how Wong became his best assistant on set. For larger productions, the directorial team may expand to up to 10 members, each with different responsibilities. “As I got older, my own memory faded, but he helped me record everything. Especially during post-production, the younger generation absorbed new knowledge much faster than us, especially about AI. So, on the contrary, I found myself looking to young people for answers,” he said.
Mr. Wong was grateful that “After Peace” marked the beginning of SIFF. He pointed out that his disagreements with Yee only arose at the script stage, where the veteran explained each punctuation mark in exacting detail. “I hope this modest achievement does not embarrass him,” Wong said.
Yi said she likes working with young people because it allows her to relive her youth. “It reminds me of my dreams of movies and of wanting to achieve something great,” he said.
Hwang added that when Yi visited the set of “After Peace,” he didn’t interfere with Wong too much and often sat in a corner drinking coffee. “But we feel that aura around you, and it’s so pressure,” a fan jokingly told Yi. “Look how serious you are!”
Mr. Yee confirmed that observation. “I was worried that the actors would take advantage of the new director,” he said. “It helped that I was there.”
Norris Wong and Wong Hui talked about their next film Good Trip, another Director Succession project starring Hong Kong Film Award-winning actors Nick Cheung and Cherry Cheung Su-ein. The two directors had been working together for more than a decade and were considered the successors to the film’s executive producer, Mabel Zhang Yuenting.
“We didn’t have to explain our separate tasks in detail. We mostly discuss them together during the script writing stage. I’m a screenwriter, so I’m mainly in charge of writing. If I need to discuss the script with the cast on set, I have more responsibility. He’s a better talker than me, so he’s better suited to manage the staff,” Norris Wong said.
Wong Hui confessed that when he first started working with Nick Chan, he was afraid to share his thoughts until Chan encouraged him to open up.
Norris Wong said that having the director as an executive producer was a clear advantage when it came to working with Mabel Chan. “She knows exactly what creators need. She told us not to let poverty limit our imaginations and that as long as I dreamed, she would find a way to help,” she said.
Nick Cheuk was previously selected as a SIFF Asia New Talent for Yi’s “Time Still Turns the Pages” and mentored SIFF ING, the festival’s young filmmaker development program. Cheuk, who was initially intimidated by Mr. Yi, said he ultimately learned a valuable lesson from Mr. Yi.
“Director Yi once had a discussion about what a movie is. He described a movie as a commercial product with artistic value, and a work of art with commercial value. I was wondering why he would frame it that way. In fact, it’s because he feels a deep sense of responsibility to his investors,” Chae-wook said. “It takes a lot of capital to make a movie. It’s very different from painting at home. It affects a lot of people. What I learned from his words is that we also have to be accountable to everyone involved.”
Acknowledging the difficulty of raising capital, Mr Yee agreed that barren markets can be frustrating and encouraged directors to remain resolute and believe that dark times are only cyclical. He also emphasized the importance of networking and self-promotion and recommended Peter Chan as a model. “He’s a much better marketer than I am,” Yee said.
“It’s all about a healthy mindset. Stay positive,” Yee said.
Regarding financing, Norris Wong said that completing his debut film with a clear directorial perspective gave him the confidence to finance his second film himself. Chuuk urged directors to focus on creative originality. “You have to think about what makes your work unique,” he said.
When asked why he has continued to make films in the industry for more than 50 years, Mr. Yi answered candidly. “Because I have something to say,” he said.
“Movies aren’t really all that grand. They rarely answer the very questions we pose in them. There are only a handful of movies that actually cause real-world change, and that’s where their unique value lies.”
The panel discussion was followed by a discussion with the production teams of three low-budget Hong Kong films that were screened at Shanghai IFF: “Evening of the Dog,” “Birds of Paradise,” and “Unidentified Murder,” featuring Ho Leung Lau, Yukki Tai, Chewy Wu, Katherine Chow, Ka Hei Kwok, and Jack Lee Chun-Kit.
