Source: CCTV.com

08-01-2006 17:10

Dayyan Eng, better known as Wu Shixian, is a cross-cultural film director opening up a new genre of films on the Chinese Mainland. A Chinese-American living in Beijing, Dayyan's first feature length film, Waiting Alone, has been called "one of the hottest films of 2005", "China's first urban youth movie", "a real-life comedy" by domestic and international movie reviewers.

Born in 1975, Dayyan Eng studied film in the US and transferred to the prestigious Beijing Film Academy where he finished his undergraduate studies in directing. With only three films, two of which are short ones, he has already won fame throughout the world.

East 22nd Street—A 35mm short film he wrote and directed in 1997 won awards and nominations at eight international film festivals.

Bus 44 –Another short movie made in 2001. The film premiered and won awards at the 2001 Venice Film Festival and 2002 Sundance Film Festival, and was invited to 2002 Cannes Film Festival "Directors Fortnight" - becoming the first Chinese short film to be invited to all three festival's in history.

Waiting Alone— It is Dayyan's only full-length feature film, which has taken China's youth by storm. Considering China has a lack of romantic comedies, he wrote the story for youngsters worldwide. Witty dialogue, sharp camera angles, pop songs and pop artist, it has all of the elements fit to young people's tastes - it's definitely entertaining and cool.

He said:"I have never expected that an audience could learn something through only one film. It was also beyond my expectation that Waiting Alone moved so many people to tears. The most important achievement of the film was that it could raise resonance of different people. I hope films can encourage the young to control their own fate and realize their ideals."

Many movie-goers gathered in the Up-Close studio to discuss Dayyan's film. Regardless of the many tough questions to answer, Dayyan gave them all humorous responses. This time, it was no longer a television studio, and it was more like a movie forum. Is Waiting Alone a localized film or a universal topic? Does Dayyan focus more on commercialism or does he stick to art itself? Is he a film director or an excellent music designer? Why did he choose to cast Gong Beibi in his two films? The answers are unveiled NOW!

 

Editor:Wang Ping