Jun Li (; born 3 August 1991) is a Hong Kong film director and screenwriter. Li made his feature film debut with ''Tracey'' in 2018. He won the

Golden Horse Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Golden Horse Award for Best Adapted Screenplay () is presented annually at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Awards. It was first awarded in 1962 as Best Screenplay. Starting from the 16th Golden Horse Awards in 1979, it was split into two sepa ...

at the 58th Golden Horse Awards in November 2021 for his second film ''Drifting''.

Early life

Li was born in London and grew up in Hong Kong. Li originally studied architecture at the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

but later dropped out. He then studied journalism and communications at

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...

. He worked as a television reporter. He later quit to obtain his

Master of Philosophy A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at leas ...

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He then moved back to Hong Kong and worked at the University of Hong Kong as a research assistant.

Career

Li began making short films as a research assistant at the University of Hong Kong. He and his short film ''Liu Yang He'' (2017) won the Fresh Wave Award and Best Director at the Fresh Wave International Short Film Festival. Li made his feature film debut with ''Tracey'' in 2018 about a married

trans woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

transitioning in her 50s. Li was brought on later in pre-production, after another director quit the project and actors

Philip Keung Philip Keung Ho-man (; born 26 October 1966) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. Keung began his acting career as a television actor in 1985 for Asia Television (ATV), and also began appearing in films from 1988. He eventually left ATV in 201 ...

and River Huang have been cast. He was nominated at the 38th Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Screenplay (alongside Shu Kei and Erica Li) and

Best New Director ''Best New Director'' was an award given by the New York Film Critics Circle from its first inception in 1989 until discontinuing in 1996. There was no award in 1993. 1980s 1989 *Kenneth Branagh – ''Henry V'' **Runners-up: Steve Kloves – '' ...

. Li has not received a Hong Kong government subsidy (such as the First Feature Film Initiative) for all his feature productions. He cited the lack of perceived commercial viability of LGBT films as a barrier to winning such initiatives. His second film ''Drifting'' (2021) is about homelessness and addiction in

Sham Shui Po Sham Shui Po () is an area of Kowloon, Hong Kong, situated in the northwestern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Tai Kok Tsui, east of Cheung Sha Wan and south of Shek Kip Mei (). It is located in and is the namesake of the Sham Shui ...

Kowloon Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a populat ...

. It competed at the

International Film Festival Rotterdam International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

Big Screen Competition. The film was nominated for 12 awards at the 58th Golden Horse Awards, making it the most nominated film from that year. He was himself nominated Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay, winning the latter.

Style and influences

Li cites

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

Stanley Kwan Stanley Kwan (traditional Chinese: 關錦鵬; simplified Chinese: 关锦鹏); born 9 October 1957) is a Hong Kong film director and producer. He first landed a job at TVB after receiving a mass communications degree at Hong Kong Baptist Colle ...

, and

Ann Hui Ann Hui On-wah, (; born 23 May 1947) is a film director, producer, screenwriter and actress from Hong Kong who is one of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers of the Hong Kong New Wave. She is known for her films about social issues in ...

as his influences.

Personal life

Li is gay.

Filmography

Directing, Writing, Editing, Producing

Acting

Awards and accolades

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Jun Hong Kong film directors Alumni of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Alumni of the University of Cambridge Hong Kong LGBTQ screenwriters LGBTQ film directors Hong Kong screenwriters Gay screenwriters 1991 births Living people