Susie Au Suet-yee (), is a film-maker and versatile based in
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 ...
. Her works include T.V. commercials, music videos, feature films, documentaries and multi-installations.
She is noted for her stunning visual styles. She innovates electrifying exotic imagery that has stormed the music video field and the karaoke pubs in the region. Her work in music videos has earned her comparisons with Western contemporaries; "Au is Hong Kong's answer to the likes of American director
Spike Jonze
Adam Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze (), is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes films, commercials, music videos, skateboard videos and television.
Jonze ...
(''
Adaptation.'') and
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker and producer noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one o ...
(''
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' is a 2004 American surrealist science fiction romantic drama film directed by Michel Gondry and written by Charlie Kaufman from a story by Gondry, Kaufman, and Pierre Bismuth. Starring Jim Carrey a ...
'') from France."
Susie lives in Hong Kong, Beijing, Berlin, San Francisco. Besides making advertising films, music videos, she is writing films; feature and short. Still striving to work outside of the box; as creative director, photographer, installation artist and theatre director.
She states,
Early life and education
Susie Au studied film-making at the
State University of New York
The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...
. She had directed short films in different genres during her stay in New York such as ''Among Fragments'', ''Moon Chase'', ''The Dream In New Orleans'' etc. She returned to Hong Kong with her awarded short film, ''To Hide and Seek''.
Career
Music videos
She has directed over one hundred music videos and has been a long-time collaborator with popular musician
Faye Wong
Faye Wong ( zh, 王菲; pinyin: ''Wáng Fēi''; born 8 August 1969) is a Chinese singer-songwriter and actress. Early in her career, she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong (). Born in Beijing, she moved to British Hong Kong at the age o ...
(王菲) and alternative pop singer
Anthony Wong (黃耀明).
Other artists who have collaborated with Susie on more than one occasion include best album selling pop singers;
Jacky Cheung
Jacky Cheung Hok-yau (born 10 July 1961) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. One of the most influential artists in the Greater China region, Cheung is widely regarded as a Heavenly King of Cantopop music and an icon of Hong Kong popular culture. He ...
(張學友),
Eason Chan
Eason Chan Yick-shun ( zh, s=陈奕迅, t=陳奕迅, first=t, p=Chén Yìxùn; born 27 July 1974) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. He is one of the most popular and influential singers in both Cantopop and Mandopop. Besides holding the record ...
(陳奕迅),
Andy Lau
Andy Lau Tak-wah ( zh, order=t,j, t=劉德華, j=Lau4 Dak1 Waa4; born Lau Fook-wing; 27 September 1961), is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He was named the "Fourth Tiger" among the Five Tiger Generals of TVB in the 1 ...
(劉德華),
Joey Yung
Joey Yung Tso-Yi (, ; born 16 June 1980) is a Hong Kong singer signed to Emperor Entertainment Group. Since her debut in 1996, Yung has won numerous awards, including the JSG Most Popular Female Singer and Ultimate Best Female Singer – Gol ...
(容祖兒),
Jeff Chang (張信哲),
Miriam Yeung
Miriam Yeung Chin-wah (born 3 February 1974) is a Hong Kong singer and actress. As of 2020, she has released more than 35 albums and has starred in more than 40 films. In 2012, Yeung won the Award for Best Actress at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awar ...
(楊千嬅),
Grasshopper
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.
Grassh ...
(草蜢),
Mavis Fan
Mavis Fan (; born 27 February 1977) is a Taiwanese singer and actress.
Life and career
Fan began her singing career in the mid 90s as a pop idol, singing songs catered mostly towards children and young teenagers.
Fan was raised only by her mot ...
(范曉萱),
F4,
Ellen Loo (盧凱彤),
Tam Wai Wai (譚維維),
Shirley Kwan
Shirley Kwan Suk-yee (; born 15 August 1966) is a Hong Kong singer and actress. Kwan first shot to fame in 1989 with the hit " Happy Are Those in Love" () and was widely popular throughout the early to mid-1990s. She is noted for her distinct, wh ...
(關淑怡),
Ivana Wong
Ivana Wong Yuen-chi (; born 18 June 1979) is a Hong Kong singer, songwriter, and actress. She made her debut in 2005 with the self-titled EP ''Ivana''. She is a four-time winner of the Ultimate Song Chart Awards Singer-songwriter Gold Award ...
(王苑之),
Kary Ng
Kary Ng (born 9 June 1986) is a pop rock singer in Hong Kong. When she debuted, she had been a member of a music group, Cookies; however, the members of Cookies were eventually arranged to explore their respective solo careers in 2005, and the ...
(吳雨霏) and more.
Her works with Anthony Wong and Faye Wong won her gold awards from the
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...
.
Faye Wong
Faye Wong ( zh, 王菲; pinyin: ''Wáng Fēi''; born 8 August 1969) is a Chinese singer-songwriter and actress. Early in her career, she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong (). Born in Beijing, she moved to British Hong Kong at the age o ...
's ''Half Way'' (半途而廢) won the Best
MTV Video Music Award
The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...
.
Mavis Fan
Mavis Fan (; born 27 February 1977) is a Taiwanese singer and actress.
Life and career
Fan began her singing career in the mid 90s as a pop idol, singing songs catered mostly towards children and young teenagers.
Fan was raised only by her mot ...
's ''Why'',
Jeff Chang's ''True Love'' (用情) and
Jacky Cheung
Jacky Cheung Hok-yau (born 10 July 1961) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. One of the most influential artists in the Greater China region, Cheung is widely regarded as a Heavenly King of Cantopop music and an icon of Hong Kong popular culture. He ...
's ''Web of Love'' (情網) were nominated for the Best Music Video of the year.
Susie is now taken as the region's M.V. guru, her visual style is noted for uniquely feminine, romantic yet innovative and electrifying. Also, most of the videos have become the region's karaoke classic; mass culture.
Films
Susie founded Handmade Films to diversify her visual adventure in different forms. She started directing T.V. commercials; mostly about contemporary women's life-style and fashion-oriented. Not only is Susie a rare female director in the region, she is also the first Chinese director to direct
Christian Dior
Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Dior, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained promi ...
's first-launched T.V.C. in the China market.
Susie states her ambition is to create and recreate, enjoys filming on the set and never gets bored in the editing suite. Among all other projects, she inspired the music industry to create various music projects; Susie is a pioneer in music documentaries, collaborating with musicians to create innovative visuals for concerts and experimental films.
In 2005, Susie made a forty-five-minute musical film ''Moon Wall'' (牆前明月光); produced by now.com.hk, starring
Karena Lam
Karena Lam (; born 17 August 1978) is a Taiwanese Canadian actress and singer based in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
In October 1995, Lam released her debut album ''Karena'' (有點想). In 2015, she won the Best Actress award at the Golden Horse ...
(林嘉欣) and
Rebecca Pan
Rebecca Pan Di-hua (; also Poon Tik-wah, Pan Wan Ching) is a Hong Kong actress and singer.
Early life
She was born in Shanghai on 29 December 1931 and moved to Hong Kong in 1949.
Career
Her singing career began in 1957. One of her songs, which s ...
(潘迪華). Written by
GC Goo-Bi
Cheuk Wan-chi (; born 28 March 1979), also known as ''Vincci'', ''G'' and ''GC Goo-Bi'', is a Hong Kong media personality, stand-up comedian, screenwriter and director, master of ceremonies, and an occasional television pundit and talk show ...
, music by
Peter Kam
Peter Kam Pui-Tat ( zh, t=金培達; born August 23, 1961) is a music composer for Hong Kong films including ''The Warlords'', ''Bodyguards and Assassins,'' ''Dragon'' and ''Isabella.''
Kam is an eight-time winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
...
(金培達). The film premiered at United Artist Cinema at Langham.
In 2007, Susie made her first feature debut ''
Ming Ming
''Ming Ming'' () is a 2006 Hong Kong film directed by Susie Au and starring Zhou Xun, Daniel Wu, Tony Yang and Jeff Chang. A debut feature-length film by Au, an experienced music video director, Ming Ming premiered on 14 October 2006 during th ...
'', starring
Zhou Xun
Zhou Xun ( zh, s=周迅, born 18 October 1974) is a Chinese actress and singer. Zhou rose to prominence with the film '' Suzhou River'' (2000), followed by films such as '' Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress'' (2002), '' Perhaps Love'' (2005 ...
(周迅),
Daniel Wu
Daniel Wu Neh-Tsu (; born September 30, 1974) is an American actor. He is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese language film industry. Since his film debut in 1998, he has been featured in over 60 films. A three- ...
(吳彥祖) and
Tony Yang
Tony Yang (; born 30 August 1982) is a Taiwanese actor who rose to prominence for his debut film role in ''Formula 17'' (2004), for which he won the Golden Horse Award for Best New Performer
The Golden Horse Award for Best New Performer () ...
(楊祐寧).
The film selected to be screened in Pusan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and
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 ...
, the film gets reviewed as "Run Lola Run meets new generation's wuxia… "; "Ming Ming's world, one which contains fantasy martial arts elements, the magical realism which set in today's contemporary era." ''Ming Ming'' was released in China, Hong Kong and Taipei simultaneously. The film marked an unusual independent film effort to create a China-Hong Kong-Taiwan alliance before the huge film market developed.
In 2008, Susie directed a 45-minute short titled ''Moving On'', in which the scene of
Eason Chan
Eason Chan Yick-shun ( zh, s=陈奕迅, t=陳奕迅, first=t, p=Chén Yìxùn; born 27 July 1974) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. He is one of the most popular and influential singers in both Cantopop and Mandopop. Besides holding the record ...
casually humming along the abandoned back in fact expanding on the director's continual themes on nostalgic and alienated emotion to Hong Kong.
In 2010, collaborating with pop legend
Faye Wong
Faye Wong ( zh, 王菲; pinyin: ''Wáng Fēi''; born 8 August 1969) is a Chinese singer-songwriter and actress. Early in her career, she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong (). Born in Beijing, she moved to British Hong Kong at the age o ...
, Susie created a music documentary titled ''Faye Reborn''.
In 2011, Susie was invited by mainstream director
Jeff Lau (劉鎮偉) to be the Music Director for
East Meets West 2011
''East Meets West'' (東成西就2011) is a 2011 Hong Kong comedy film directed by Jeffrey Lau. The film references elements of various films such as ''The One-Armed Swordsman'', ''Black Rose II'', and jiangshi films.
Plot
Put under pressure, ...
(東成西說 2011). Not only Susie directed a few musical scenes, she has revived the classic songs for film and created an emotional sound track.
In 2012, Susie directed and scripted ''Beauty University'' (美麗大學); starring
Shu Qi
Lin Li-hui (born 16 April 1976) ( zh, c=林立慧), better known by her stage name Shu Qi ( zh, c=舒淇), is a Hong Kong–Taiwanese actress and model. Widely regarded as one of the most successful Taiwanese actresses of all time, Shu has receive ...
(舒淇). It is the story written about contemporary Chinese women. It is rarely found in China viro on short drama driven by visuals than dialogue. The film is a visual meditation on the values of modern living and marriage. It is well received in China during the launch.
In 2013, Susie is invited by
Juno Mak
Juno Mak (; born 18 March 1984) is a Hong Kong singer, record producer, actor, and director. He made his musical debut in 2002 with the EP ''On the Road.'' His albums have won Best Record three times at the Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentat ...
(麥俊龍) to direct the music video of "Poison Love" with
Zombie Boy (Rick Genest).
In 2014, Susie focused on developing her feature film scripts and installation art projects.
In 2015, her new film project ''Crazy Girls Dancing Club'' (working title) was selected by
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
The Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg is the body responsible for Film Funding and New Media Funding in the states of Berlin and Brandenburg. It is also the first point of contact for international and German professionals active in the film and me ...
and invited as a resident artist in Berlin.
In 2016, Susie was invited to Berlin by Nipkow Programme as artist in residence to create TV series. In this year, Susie also created and directed a multimedia-dance-theatre ''Utopia, Momentarily''. Partnering with lyricist
Chow Yiu Fai (周耀輝) and musician
Vicky Fung Wing Ki (馮穎琪), the project was sponsored by Hong Kong New Vision Arts Festival, after one and half year's endeavour, ''Utopia, Momentarily'' launched in Kwai Ching Theatre in November 2016. Not only pop singers like
Anthony Wong (黃耀明),
Juno Mak
Juno Mak (; born 18 March 1984) is a Hong Kong singer, record producer, actor, and director. He made his musical debut in 2002 with the EP ''On the Road.'' His albums have won Best Record three times at the Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentat ...
(麥俊龍),
Eman Lam
Eman Lam Yee-man ( zh, 林二汶, born 25 October 1982) is a Hong Kong singer and songwriter. Lam and Ellen Joyce Loo were part of the vocal duo at17.
In contrast with Ellen Joyce Loo (who had been writing songs which incline more toward Cant ...
(林二汶) and
Yoyo Sham (岑寧兒) were invited to perform the songs, the project involved many first endeavours for the festival. Not only Susie is the theatre director, she also created and designed all the visuals for the project. ''Utopia, Momentarily'' was highly acclaimed from both the pop and theatre field.
Filmography
Film
Installation art/theatre work
Awards and nominations
Music videos
TV commercials
References
External links
*
* ]
Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Au, Susie
Female music video directors
Hong Kong film directors
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
Year of birth missing (living people)
Hong Kong women artists
Hong Kong women film directors