
Clara Law
Directing
Biography
Clara Law Cheuk-yiu was born in 1957 in Macau. She is a graduate of The University of Hong Kong with a degree in English Literature. From 1982 to 1985, she studied directing and screenwriting at the National Film and Television School in the United Kingdom. Her graduation film, They Say the Moon is Fuller Here (1985), won the Silver Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival. After returning to Hong Kong in 1985, she joined the drama unit of Radio Television Hong Kong’s (RTHK) television division and directed over twenty single-episode dramas. Law turned her sights on film in 1988 and directed her first dramatic feature The Other Half and the Other Half. She then directed the Lillian Lee Pik-wah-scripted The Reincarnation of Golden Lotus the following year. In 1992, she won the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno Film Festival and the European Art Theatres Association’s Best Picture award with Autumn Moon. Her 1993 period drama Temptation of a Monk was selected to compete for the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival and won Best Picture at the Cr�teil International Women’s Film Festival in France. In 1995, Law relocated to Australia with her husband Eddie Fong while continuing her filmmaking career. Her 1996 film Floating Life was awarded the Silver Leopard at Locarno while collecting Grand Prix Asturias and Best Director prizes at Gij�n International Film Festival. While 2000’s The Goddess of 1967 won Law the Best Director award at the Chicago Film Festival, a young Rose Byrne—then a little known Australian actress—was awarded the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at Venice for her performance in the film. Letters to Ali, Law’s 2004 documentary about the life of a young asylum seeker in Australia, was selected as one of the 100 greatest films in the history of Australian cinema. She eventually returned to Chinese-language cinema with the Hong Kong- Chinese production Like a Dream (2009). Law’s husband, Eddie Fong, is also her long time collaborator. Most of her films were written and produced by Fong. In 2010, they made the short film Red Earth.
Known For

The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards (Chinese: 台北金馬影展; pinyin: Táiběi Jīnmǎ Yǐngzhǎn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-pak Kim-má iáⁿ-tián) is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is usually held in November or December in Taipei, although the event has also been held in other locations in Taiwan in recent times
Golden Horse Awards

An exceptionally beautiful Chinese woman falls prey to violence and social control. After remembering how her previous reincarnation followed a similar path, she tries to break free of the mould.
The Reincarnation of Golden Lotus

Fan Ruyi, a detective, finds himself framed after getting a top secret mission. Along the way he meets a blind performer and a powerful warlord's daughter that further complicates his quest to clear his name.
Shanghai Noir

Near the beginning of the Tang dynasty, in 7th century China, General Shi Yan-sheng is tricked into leaving the crown prince unguarded. The crown prince is murdered by one of his brothers who then becomes emperor. Shi retreats to a monastery, perhaps to hide, perhaps to plan a coup. When his loyal troops as well as the princess he desires are slain, he seeks refuge in a remote, abandoned monastery where an aged abbot schools him with practical, earthy teachings. The emperor's forces pursue Shi: first a woman, then a general seek to overpower him with lust and might. Over the course of the film, the reds of battle give way to blues of meditation.
Temptation of a Monk

Li Hung is a desperate mother who tried for years to obtain an American visa to study to create a better life for her husband Nansan and her son. But after a short time, she loses contact with her family, and her husband, Nansan smuggles himself to New York to find her.
Farewell China

A rich, young businessman travels to Australia with the intention of buying a 1967 Citroën DS. Once he arrives, things do not go to plan, and he must drive the DS into the outback alongside a blind young woman in order to track down its seller.
The Goddess of 1967

The sexual fantasies of women are explored by four female directors.
Erotique

Five young men threw themselves with heart and soul into the work force. They have different approaches and different life styles.
Fruit Punch

Wai leaves Hong Kong without telling anyone and drift across Taiwan, reconnecting with old friends. Ling flies from Hong Kong to Australia to bring her deceased friend home, trying to piece together her state of mind before her death. The two journeys converge, bearing witness to a young generation's struggles while holding a glimmer of hope for the present time.
Ripples in the Mist

Clara Law's debut feature deals with her common theme of emigration as two people, man and woman, from separate couples, have to room together while their spouses are in America to finalize the Canadian citizenship process.
The Other ½ & the Other ½

Private investigator Jacky Cheung is adrift. He has separated from his wife (Kathy Chow) and misses his young daughter. His next assignment seems fairly simple: he must track down a troublesome teenage girl (Mavis Fan) and return her home to China. Powerful behind the scenes forces soon become apparent, however, and plunge our intrepid hero into greater trouble than he's ever known.
The Private Eye Blues

Four short films by four Hong Kong directors.
Quattro Hong Kong

A Japanese tourist, Tokio, meets a 15-year-old Hong Kong girl and her grandmother left behind in Hong Kong while their family emigrates to Canada.
Autumn Moon

The famous courtesan (played by Xue Zhilun) admires the actor (played by Tony Leung Ka-fai) and visits him every day to support him and bring him soup. One night, the actor noticed her, and they fell deeply in love. However, the actor was heartless, and over time, he grew tired of her. In a fit of rage, the courtesan hanged herself. The actor regretted his actions, but it was too late. He could only row his boat along the river, burning everything that reminded him of her, hoping to make amends.
Nan shao yi

An aging Hong Kong couple move to Australia with their two youngest sons. They stay with a daughter who has already begun a successful career. Meanwhile their eldest daughter lives in Germany and their eldest son remains in Hong Kong. The film explores the different ways the family members cope with isolation and alienation.
Floating Life

Adrian is a Chinese Australian visiting his Hong Kong girlfriend Ann. The relationship is already in deep trouble because both are suffering from an identity crisis. Adrian is "yellow on the outside but white in the middle." The solution he thinks is a crash course for Adrian by his uncle on lovemaking techniques using a thousand-year-old Chinese sex manual. Naturally, Adrian's newly acquired skills do not work. The problem, as it turns out, is not that Adrian is "not Chinese enough" but that, according to Ann, he does not know "wonton soup does not exist in Hong Kong." The young couple's real problem, Law seems to suggest, is that they live in an eclectic and transnational cultural environment yet they are not aware of its implication for their mosaic identities. Wonton Soup is Law's contribution to the omnibus film Erotique, a collaborative effort by four women directors from four continents that bills itself as "women's erotica."
Wonton Soup

While on a business trip in Shanghai, a man sees a woman he has had recurring dreams of.
Like a Dream

In a hotel room, a man is waiting for a mysterious woman, with whom he would watch the sunset. However, as he is stood up, the sun never goes down, scorching the earth day after day.
Red Earth

A filmmaker and a piano student, who first meet in Australia, try to make sense of a past imbued with mystery in Macau and an uncertain future in Hong Kong.
Drifting Petals

A woman and her family find themselves trying to get a young refugee boy out of a harsh Australian detention centre.