Cheng Wen-tang (; born 1958) is a Taiwanese director and producer. He got his start creating documentaries on social movements in 1980s Taiwan. He began creating narrative films in the 1990s and has gone on to collaborate with his daughter, singer

Enno Cheng Enno Cheng () is a Taiwanese indie singer-songwriter who is also an author and a film actress. She is currently part of the band Chocolate Tiger (猛虎巧克力) in addition to performing and releasing albums solo. She is the daughter of fi ...

, on several projects. He has served president of the

Kaohsiung Film Festival The Kaohsiung Film Festival (KFF; ) is a film festival held annually in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwest ...

and is a part-time assistant-professor level teacher at

National Chengchi University National Chengchi University () is a public research university in Taipei. The university is also considered as the earliest public service training facility of the Republic of China. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subs ...

Early life

Cheng was born in

Yilan County, Taiwan Yilan County, alternately spelled I-lan, is a county in northeastern Taiwan, Republic of China. Name The name ''Yilan'' derives from the Taiwanese indigenous peoples, indigenous Kavalan people. Other former names in reference to this area i ...

in 1958 and grew up in

Luodong Luodong Township () is an urban township in the central part of Yilan County, Taiwan. Luodong is the smallest township in the county. Naming Its name and former name () derive from the Kavalan word '' rutung'', meaning "monkey", referring to a ...

. He graduated from Chinese drama school of the

Chinese Culture University The Chinese Culture University (CCU; ) is a private Taiwanese university located in Yangmingshan in Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan. CCU was established in 1962 and is one of the largest universities in Taiwan with an enrollment of about 32, ...

Career

Cheng got his start in filmmaking making documentaries, with a focus on social movements in 1980s Taiwan. He made his first

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

debut with ''Lanyang River Youth'' (1998). Cheng's first collaboration with his daughter,

, was on ''Badu's Homework''. The short film was her writing debut at 16 and won Best Short at the 2003 Golden Horse Awards.'''' Cheng began serving as president of the

in 2004. The

National Palace Museum The National Palace Museum (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Kwet-li̍p kù-kiung pok-vu̍t-yèn), is a museum in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). It has a permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of Chinese artifacts and artworks, many of which wer ...

commissioned Cheng to produce a short film with a budget. Given the size of the budget, he convinced the museum to turn the project into a feature length film that could be released commercially; Cheng brought in another for the budget. ''The Passage'' later earned at the box office and was entered into the

Tokyo Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

. His second feature '' Somewhere Over the Dreamland'' (2002) is about two

Aboriginal Taiwanese Taiwanese indigenous peoples (formerly Taiwanese aborigines), also known as Formosan people, Austronesian Taiwanese, Yuanzhumin or Gaoshan people, are the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, with the nationally recognized subgroups numbering about 5 ...

men's adventure in urban

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

. It was screened at the

59th Venice International Film Festival The 59th annual Venice International Film Festival was held between 29 August to 8 September 2002. The Golden Lion was awarded to The Magdalene Sisters directed by Peter Mullan. Jury The following people comprised the 2002 jury: * Li Gong (C ...

as part of the

International Critics' Week The International Critics' Week (french: Semaine de la Critique) was founded in 1962 and is organized by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. It was created following the showing of '' The Connection'' directed by Shirley Clarke which had been ...

section. Cheng has taught at

's College of Communications as an assistant-professor level contracted teacher since 2012. Cheng and Chang Yih-feng collaborated on the music video for "Supreme Pain for the Tyrant",

Chthonic The word chthonic (), or chthonian, is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''χθών, "khthon"'', meaning earth or soil. It translates more directly from χθόνιος or "in, under, or beneath the earth" which can be differentiated from Γῆ ...

's song from their 2013 album ''

Bu-Tik ''Bú-Tik'' () is the seventh studio album from Taiwanese black metal band Chthonic. It was released by Spinefarm Records on May 29, 2013, in Asia; June 3, 2013, in the United Kingdom; and June 25, 2013, in North America. ''Bú-Tik'' is the grou ...

''.

Style and themes

Cheng has expressed an admiration for realism, specifically the works of authors

Huang Chun-ming Huang Chun-ming (; born 13 February 1935) is a Taiwanese literary figure and teacher. Huang writes mainly about the tragic and sometimes humorous lives of ordinary Taiwanese people, and many of his short stories have been turned into films, inc ...

and

Chen Yingzhen Chen Yingzhen (; 8 November 1937 – 22 November 2016) was a Taiwanese author. Chen is also notable for having served a prison sentence for "subversive activity" between 1968 and 1973. He was active as writer from the late 1950s until his death ...

and director

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (''Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessne ...

Personal life

Cheng is the father of singer-songwriter

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Wen-tang Taiwanese film directors Chinese Culture University alumni People from Luodong, Yilan County, Taiwan 1958 births Living people