Teddy Zee's Three to Watch
The Icon: Stephen Chow is god-like. I always look forward to his movies. The greatest thing about Chow is that he is completely self-sufficient and versatile. He writes, stars, directs and produces his own movies. I felt this way about him about eight years ago when I asked Fox to remake his classic God of Cookery. He is a gift to audiences around the world.
The Next Wave:What will Dayyen Eng do next? I have high hopes for him here in China as well as in Hollywood. I absolutely loved Waiting Alone as well as his short film Bus 44. He is equally gifted at comedy and drama. His wife Gong Beibei starred in both films. As a side note, I met Beibei about a year ago, and she didn't speak English. When I saw her a year later, she was chatting away in perfect English. Hearing her gave me hope that I too can become proficient in Chinese in a short time.
The New:Li Weiran is someone who has never directed a feature film before. While watching his breath-taking reel of commercials, I couldn't help but think about the names of Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and Michael Bay - three successful Hollywood directors who started out in commercials. Li Weiran makes a very good living doing commercials and will only do a movie when it is perfect.
(China Daily 06/29/2007 page20)
