Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
) is a
Chinese
Chinese may refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China.
**'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
-
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'', March 9, 2017. He is best known for his debut feature film '' Old Stone'', which premiered at the
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
2016 Toronto International Film Festival
The 41st annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 8 to 18 September 2016. The first announcement of films to be screened at the festival took place on 26 July. Almost 400 films were shown.
Awards
The festival's final awards were ...
5th Canadian Screen Awards
The 5th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 12, 2017, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2016. Nominations were announced on January 17, 2017.
Awards in many of the technical categor ...
in 2017. His second feature To Live To Sing premiered at the
Director's Fortnight
The Directors' Fortnight (, formerly ) is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festival as a ...
Section of the 2019
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
.
Early life
Ma moved from Shanghai to
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
, studying commerce at the behest of his parents, and after working in Shanghai and
Wenzhou
Wenzhou; Chinese postal romanization, historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in China's Zhejiang province. Wenzhou is located at the extreme southeast of Zhejiang, bordering Lishui, Zhejiang, Lishui to the west, Taizhou, Zheji ...
, decided to pursue a degree in film at
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 2010.
Career
Ma made a number of short films before breaking through to wider success with '' A Grand Canal'' in 2013. That film, which premiered at the
2013 Toronto International Film Festival
The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. ''The Fifth Estate (film), The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and ''Life of Crime (film), Life o ...
, was named to TIFF's
Canada's Top Ten
Canada's Top Ten is an annual honour, compiled by the Toronto International Film Festival to identify and promote the year's best Canadian films."Canada's Top Ten awards will honour excellence in Canadian cinema". ''Welland Tribune'', November 23, ...
list as one of the ten best Canadian short films of the year, and was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Live Action Short Drama at the
2nd Canadian Screen Awards
The 2nd Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 9, 2014, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2013.
Ma's planned first feature film was ''Ten Thousand Happiness'', for which he won the Beijing International Screenwriting Competition in 2013 and
Telefilm Canada
Telefilm Canada is a Canadian Crown corporation that supports Canada's audiovisual industry. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm Canada provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in Vancouver, British Colu ...
's Pitch This! competition in 2014. After difficulty securing financing, he put it on hold and proceeded with ''Old Stone'', a script he was developing as his potential second film.
At the
5th Canadian Screen Awards
The 5th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 12, 2017, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2016. Nominations were announced on January 17, 2017.
Awards in many of the technical categor ...
, ''Old Stone'' was also a nominee for
Best Picture
The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...
; Ma was also nominated for
Best Original Screenplay
The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...
.
'' To Live to Sing'' was completed in 2019 and premiered at the 2019
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
Director's Fortnight
The Directors' Fortnight (, formerly ) is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festival as a ...
. It went on to win both Best Film and Best Actress at the 2019
Shanghai International Film Festival
The Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF, , French: ''Festival international du film de Shanghai'') is the largest film festival in Asia and China's longest-running international cinema event. The first festival was established in Octobe ...
.
Filmography
Ma contributed a short film to the Netflix series ''Homemade'', released in June 2020. Set in
San Sebastián del Oeste
San Sebastián del Oeste () is a town and municipality, located on the western part of Jalisco state, Mexico, between 20°39’45’’ - 21°02’30’’ N and 104°35’00’’ - 104°51’00’’ W, at a height of 1,480 metres (4,856 ...
, Mexico, the short is centred around a letter Ma writes to his mother, voiced over in Mandarin.