Clara Law

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Clara Law
Born (1957-05-29) 29 May 1957 (age 66)
Macau
OccupationFilm director

Clara Law Cheuk-yiu (traditional Chinese: 羅卓瑤; simplified Chinese: 罗卓瑶; pinyin: Luó Zhuóyáo; Jyutping: lo4 coek3 jiu4, born 29 May 1957 in Macau) is a Hong Kong Second Wave film director who currently resides in Australia.[1][2][3]

Early life[edit]

Clara Law was born on 29 May 1957 in Macau.[4] At the age of 10 she moved to Hong Kong. Law studied at the University of Hong Kong and graduated with a degree in English Literature. In 1978 she joined Radio Television Hong Kong as an assistant producer and director. During her time there she tried many aspects of television from screenwriting to directing. Between 1978 and 1981 she directed twelve drama programs for the television channel. In 1982 she began studying film direction and writing at the National Film and Television School in England.[5] She won the Silver Plaque Award at the Chicago Film Festival in 1985 for her graduation film They Say the Moon is Fuller Here.[6]

Career[edit]

1985–1994[edit]

In 1985 she returned to Hong Kong and began development on her first long feature film The Other Half and the Other Half, which was released in 1988.[7][8] Since her return to Hong Kong she has worked with Eddie Fong on all of her projects. In 1989 she created her second film The Reincarnation of Golden Lotus. The film was screened at the Toronto Film Festival and was released commercially in the US. A year later she created Farewell China. It won the Special Jury Award at the Torino Film Festival. She was also nominated for best director at the Hong Kong Film Awards for the film. She directed Fruit Punch in 1991, which was a commercial film produced by a large Hong Kong film studio. In 1992 she directed and produced Autumn Moon. The film was a hit in the film festival circuit. It won the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno Film Festival in 1992, as well as the European Art Theatres Association Best Picture Award and the Youth Special Jury Award in Switzerland and the Best Screenplay in Valencia (1994). It was also awarded at the Belgium and Portugal film festivals. Autumn Moon was selected for official screenings at the New York Film Festival as well as in Sundance, Toronto, London, Rotterdam, Gothenburg, Thessaloniki, Nantes, San Francisco, Créteil, Dublin, Puerto Rico, Seattle, Jerusalem, New Delhi, Wellington, Midnight Sun Finland, Rio de Janeiro, Reykjavik, Ghent, Munich, Ankara, Sydney and Melbourne. In 1993 she released Temptation of a Monk. The film is an adaptation of a novella by Lillian Lee. The film was shot entirely on location in the north and northwestern part of China. The film was selected for competition at the Venice Film Festival in 1993. It won the Grand Prix at the Créteil International Film Festival in France (1994). The film was also selected for official screenings at the Toronto, Sundance, Rotterdam and Brisbane film festivals, and as the closing film at the L.A. Film Festival. In 1994, Law finished a segment of the movie Erotique called Wonton Soup. Later that year she and Eddie Fong moved to Australia.[9]

1994 – present[edit]

She moved to Australia with Eddie Fong in 1994. The pair's first film after their move to Australia is Floating Life, which was completed in 1996. It won the Silver Leopard Award at the Locarno Film Festival in 1996, and two other awards including Best Film, it was selected by Prix FICC and the "Ambiente salute: Qualita di vita" award. It also won the Best Film and Best Director Awards at the Gijon International Film Festival in Spain, and the Grand Prix at the Créteil International Film Festival in France. It was nominated for three awards at the Australian Film Institute Awards including Best Director and Best Screenplay, and it received nine nominations at the Golden Horse International Film Festival in Taiwan, including the awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Floating Life was also Australia's official entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 69th Academy Awards (1997). The film was also screened at the Sydney, Melbourne, London, Rotterdam, Hof, Stockholm, Toronto and Hawaii film festivals. The Goddess of 1967, shot on location in the outback of Australia and Tokyo, was completed in 2000. It was in competition at the Venice film festival in 2000 where Rose Byrne won the Best Actress Award. What's more, Clara Law was nominated for the Golden Lion in Venice. The film also pocketed the Best Director Award at the Chicago International Film Festival, the Best Director Award at the Teplice Art Film Festival in Slovakia and the FIPRESCI Critics' Award for Best Film at the Tromsø Film Festival in Norway. The film was also selected for official screenings at the Toronto, London, Pusan, Hof, Vancouver, Hawaii, Taipei, Rotterdam, Jerusalem, Karlovy Vary and Oslo film festivals. She directed her first digital documentary in 2004 called Letters to Ali with Eddie Fong who co-produced, edited, and shot the film. The film was selected for competition at the Venice Film Festival and for official screenings at the Toronto, Pusan, Gothenburg and Melbourne film festivals. She completed Like a Dream in 2009. This film marked her return to Asia. The film was nominated in nine categories at the 2009 Golden Horse Awards. It also opened the 2010 Hong Kong International Film Festival. In 2010, Law made a short film, Red Earth, commissioned by the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The short was selected in the Horizon category at the 2010 Venice film festival.[10]

Law's films explore themes surrounding migration and exile, including loyalty, family, love, and nostalgia. She has used a variety of visual and narrative styles throughout her oeuvre to interrogate cultural dislocation and its effect on individuals and communities.[11]

Filmography[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2020 Drifting Petals
2015 The Unbearable Lightness of Inspector Fan Also known as Shanghai Noir
2010 Red Earth Short Film
2009 Like a Dream
2004 Letters to Ali Documentary [12]
2000 The Goddess of 1967 [13][14][15]
1996 Floating Life [16][17]
1994 Wonton Soup
1993 Temptation of a Monk [18]
1992 Autumn Moon [19][20]
1991 Fruit Punch
1990 Farewell China
1989 The Reincarnation of the Golden Lotus [21][22][23]
1988 The Other Half and the Other Half
1981 Faces and Places
1980 Police Drama
1977 Below the Lion Rock

Awards and nominations[edit]

Year Award Category Title Result Notes
2021 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards Best Director Drifting Petals Won [24]
2009 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards Best Feature Film Like a Dream Nominated [25]
Best Director Nominated
2001 Tromsø International Film Festival, Norway FIPRESCI Award The Goddess of 1967 Won
Art Film Festival, Slovak Republic Golden Key (Best Direction) Won
2000 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion Nominated
Chicago International Film Festival Silver Hugo (Best Director) Won
1997 Grétail International Women's Film Festival, France Grand Prix Floating Life Won
1996 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards Best Screenplay Nominated [26]
Best Director Nominated
Gijón International Film Festival, Spain Grand Prix Asturias Won
Best Director Won
AFI Award, Australian Film Institute Best Director Nominated
Locarno International Film Festival Silver Leopard Won
1994 Gréteil International Film Festival Grand Prix Temptation of a Monk Won
Hong Kong Film Awards Best Director Nominated
1992 European Art Theatres Association Best Picture Award Autumn Moon Won
Locarno International Film Festival Golden Leopard Won
1991 Torino Film Festival Special Jury Award Farewell China Won
Hong Kong Film Awards Best Director Nominated
1985 Chicago Film Festival The Silver Plaque Award They Say the Moon Is Fuller Here Won

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Zhou, Debbie (3 November 2021). "'It was strange and seductive': film director Clara Law on finding home in Australia". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  2. ^ Lau, Joyce (30 March 2010). "Heady Days for Hong Kong Women". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Clara Law." (biography) The New York Times. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  4. ^ Lee 2003
  5. ^ Lee 2003, para. 2
  6. ^ Podvin 2010, para. 2
  7. ^ Lee 2003, para. 3
  8. ^ Davis, Edward L. (2004). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. pp. 316–317. doi:10.4324/9780203645062. ISBN 9780203645062.
  9. ^ Podvin 2010
  10. ^ Podvin 2010
  11. ^ Felando, Cynthia (1998). "Law, Clara". Women filmmakers & their films. Detroit: St. James Press. p. 236. ISBN 1-55862-357-4. OCLC 38862487.
  12. ^ "Return to sender". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 September 2004. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  13. ^ "THE GODDESS OF 1967 Film australien de Clara Law". Le Monde.fr (in French). 18 July 2001. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  14. ^ Morris, Roderick Conway; Tribune, International Herald (6 September 2000). "Seeking a Goddess in the Outback". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  15. ^ "Quotes of the Day". TIME.com. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  16. ^ "Australian Films by Women, at Museum of the Moving Image". The New Yorker. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  17. ^ Thomas, Kevin (10 June 1999). "The Witty and the Gritty". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  18. ^ Holden, Stephen (16 December 1994). "FILM REVIEW; Battles and Orgies, Observed by a Zen Eye". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  19. ^ Holden, Stephen (26 September 1992). "Review/Film Festival; World-Weary Youths Adrift in Hong Kong". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  20. ^ "FILM REVIEW; Young People Adrift In Beautiful Hong Kong". The New York Times. 26 August 1994. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  21. ^ Smith, Mark Chalon (25 February 1994). "MOVIE REVIEW In 'Golden Lotus,' Life Is Rough--All Over Again : Clara Law's reincarnated heroine finds herself in a world that's still inhospitable to women, even centuries later". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  22. ^ Thomas, Kevin (4 May 1990). "MOVIE REVIEW : Feminist Flavor in 'Lotus'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  23. ^ Chen, Serena (5 May 1990). "Chinese Filmmaker Looks Back to Future : Movies: Director examines the plight of women in China in 'Golden Lotus.'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  24. ^ "台北金馬影展 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival". www.goldenhorse.org.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  25. ^ "台北金馬影展 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival". www.goldenhorse.org.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  26. ^ "台北金馬影展 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival". www.goldenhorse.org.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 26 March 2023.

Further reading[edit]

  • Shen, Shiao-ying. "Filming One's Way Home: Clara Law's Letters to Oz." In: Wang, Lingzhen. Chinese Women's Cinema: Transnational Contexts. Columbia University Press, 13 August 2013. Start page 16. ISBN 0231527446, 9780231527446.
  • Podvin, Thomas, Hong Kong Cinemagic, 2010.
  • Lee, Dian, Senses of Cinema, 2003.
  • Tong, Nancy, "From the Chinese Diaspora to a Global Dream: A Discussion With Filmmakers Clara Law and Eddie Fong", Hong Kong Cinemagic, 2010.

External links[edit]

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