Wu Siyuan
Ng See Yuen BBS JP (born June 12 1944) is a Hong Kong film director and producer, Honorary Lifetime President of the Hong Kong Film Directors’ Guild and President of the Hong Kong Film Workers’ Association. He founded the See Yuen Basketball Team and in 2002 opened UME International Cineplex in Beijing, the first cinema in China built and operated by filmmakers.
Early life
Ng See Yuen was born in Shanghai in 1944 and moved with his family to Hong Kong in 1961. He attended primary and secondary school in Shanghai before graduating from Sun Faat College.[1] Prior to entering film, he worked as a security and machinery maintenance officer at a textile mill.[2]
Career
In 1966, Ng joined Shaw Brothers’ Nanguo Experimental Troupe (6th class) to train as a stage director and assistant scriptwriter. He served as assistant director on the 1969 film Sword Thrust and directed his first feature, The Mad Killer, in 1971. In 1973 he founded Seasonal Film Corporation, producing and directing films such as Hong Kong Godfather and Integrity in Action. Beginning in 1977 he shifted to producing, backing Jackie Chan’s breakthrough films Drunken Master and Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, and supporting New Wave directors such as Tsui Hark with The Butterfly Murders.[3]
Ng served as Chairman of the Hong Kong Film Awards from 1995 to 2000 and has held multiple terms as President of the Hong Kong Film Workers’ Association. In 2002 he launched UME International Cineplex in Beijing and Shanghai, entering theatrical exhibition and cinema operations. In 2013 he received the Hong Kong Film Awards Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2017 he sold UME’s cinema operations to China Media Capital.
Political stance
In May 2020 Ng joined over 2,600 arts professionals in supporting the enactment of the Hong Kong National Security Law.
Horse racing
Since the 2017–18 season, Ng has been a racehorse owner with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, campaigning the horse Happy Family in the stable of trainer Tony Chung.
Selected filmography
As director
- The Mad Killer (1971)
- The Water Margin (1972)
- The Hungry Dragon (1972)
- Return of the Kung Fu Dragon (1973)
- Hong Kong Godfather (1974)
- The House That Never Dies (1975)
- Integrity in Action (1975)
- The Private Eyes (1976)
- 7 Million ($) Robbery (1976)
- Iron Palm Eagle Claw (1977)
- Something Wild (1986)
As producer
- Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1977)
- Drunken Master (1978)
- The Butterfly Murders (1979)
- All for the Winner (1990)
- The Soong Sisters (1997)
- The Grandmaster (2013)