Roseanne Liang is a New Zealand film director. Her first feature film, ''

My Wedding and Other Secrets ''My Wedding and Other Secrets'' is a 2011 romantic comedy film directed by Roseanne Liang, written by Liang and Angeline Loo, and produced by South Pacific Pictures. The film is based on Liang's real-life cross-cultural romance. Plot A Romeo ...

'', was the first theatrically released feature film made by a

Chinese New Zealander Chinese New Zealanders (; ) or Sino-New Zealanders are New Zealanders of Chinese ancestry. The largest subset of Asian New Zealanders, many of the Chinese immigrants came from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or other countries that have lar ...

and became 2011's highest grossing local feature film. She also co-created, directed, and co-wrote the 2021 TV series ''

Creamerie ''Creamerie'' is a black comedy web series from New Zealand that launched in 2021 on TVNZ OnDemand. It explores a world in which nearly all men have died from a virus, and three friends, played by Perlina Lau, J.J. Fong, and Ally Xue, run a dair ...

''.

Early life

Liang was born in New Zealand to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

emigrants. Her parents were doctors, one was a doctor and the other a nurse. She has two sisters. Liang attended

St Cuthbert's College, Auckland St Cuthbert's College is a private (independent) Presbyterian-based day and boarding school for girls aged 4 to 18 (Years 0 to 13), located in Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand. The school was established in 1915 in Mt Eden, and has a roll of appro ...

, and was

dux ''Dux'' (, : ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux'' coul ...

of the school in 1995. She went on to study computer science at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

. She graduated with a Masters in Creative and Performing Arts in 2003.

Career

Liang made her directorial debut with the autobiographical documentary film ''Banana in a Nutshell'' (2005), which was about her own cross-cultural romance with a

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

. The film won Best Documentary at DOCNZ International Documentary Film Festival. Liang won Best Director of Documentary Films at

Asian Festival of First Films The Asian Festival of First Films () (AFFF) was an annual film festival held in Singapore from 2005 to 2009 to celebrate and provide a platform for emerging filmmakers. It was also part of the Asian Film Market. The festival focused on first-ti ...

. The film was screened at

New Zealand International Film Festival The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) () is a film festival held annually across New Zealand. The festival is operated by the New Zealand Film Festival Trust. It programmes international and New Zealand films. History The festiva ...

2005, where she met John Barnett, a producer from

South Pacific Pictures South Pacific Pictures is a New Zealand television production company. The company produces drama series, mini-series, telemovies and feature films for the domestic market and international market. SPP's largest property is ''Shortland Street' ...

, who requested a feature length adaptation of the documentary. That project later became the romantic comedy ''

'' (2011). The film won Best Actress and Best Screenplay Award for a feature film at the Aotearoa Film & Television Awards. Liang also directed the short film ''Take 3'', which won awards in 2007 at the Berlin and Valladolid Film Festivals, and the hit web series '' Flat3'' and ''Friday Night Bites''. In 2008, she was awarded

Women in Film and Television International Women in Film & Television International (WIFTI) is a global network of non-profit membership chapters. Established in 1997, it is dedicated to advancing professional development and achievement for women working in all areas of film, video, an ...

's Woman to Watch Award for Women in Film and Television. Liang is a part of the Thousand Apologies Collective, a creative cohort of seven writers and filmmakers based in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, which includes

Shuchi Kothari Shuchi Kothari is a New Zealand-based Indian scriptwriter and producer. Born in Ahmedabad, Kothari studied writing at the University of Texas before moving to New Zealand in 1997. She is the co-writer of the film ''Firaaq ''Firaaq'' (English: ...

and Serina Pearson. They made their television debut with their pan-Asian

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

series ''A Thousand Apologies'' on

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...

, New Zealand's first

prime time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

Asian program. Kothari and Liang later cofounded the Pan-Asian Screen Collective with others in August 2018 to support Asian filmmakers in New Zealand. In 2017, she directed a short film ''Do No Harm,'' which was selected to be shown at the Manhattan Short film festival and the

2017 Sundance Film Festival The 2017 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to January 29, 2017. The first lineup of competition films was announced November 30, 2016. Awards The following awards were presented: * Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – '' I Don't Feel ...

. In 2020, Liang directed and co-wrote ''

Shadow in the Cloud ''Shadow in the Cloud'' is a 2020 action horror film directed by Roseanne Liang, from a screenplay by Liang and Max Landis, starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Beulah Koale, Taylor John Smith, Callan Mulvey and Nick Robinson. It follows a femal ...

'', a WWII action-horror film, starring Chloë Grace Moretz from a story treatment by

Max Landis Max Landis (born August 3, 1985) is an American filmmaker. He is the son of director John Landis. He wrote scripts for the films ''Chronicle'' (2012), '' American Ultra'' (2015), ''Victor Frankenstein'' (2015), and '' Bright'' (2017). He wrote ...

. It debuted at the

2020 Toronto International Film Festival The 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, the 45th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held from September 10 to 21, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto, the festival took place primarily on an online stream ...

, where it won the People's Choice Award. In the same year, Liang also contributed to ''The Women Writers' Handbook''.

Filmography

Short film Feature film Television Web series

Personal life

Liang is married to Stephen Harris, the subject of ''Banana in a Nutshell.'' They have two children.

Accolades

* SPADA New Filmmaker of the Year (2005) * Best Director of Documentary Films —

* Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award (2012)

References

External links

*
Interview about ''My Wedding and Other Secrets''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liang, Roseanne Living people New Zealand film directors New Zealand people of Hong Kong descent New Zealand women film directors Year of birth missing (living people)