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Derek Yee
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Derek Yee

Director & Scriptwriter Derek Yee came from a family of moviemakers. His father was a producer and his mother an actress in the 1940's, his elder brother David Chiang won the Best Actor award in The 16th Asian Film Festival in 1970. His family and relatives are one way or another connected to the film industry.

Derek started his career as an actor back in 1975. Between 1975 and 1986, he has played the leading man role in more than 40 movies. He ventured into directing in 1986 with his first film THE LUNATICS which won 2 awards at the Hong Kong Film Festival. Derek has a track record of directing movies that are not only commercially successful but artistically acclaimed. Since his first movie, he has progressively established himself as one of the more prolific filmmaker in Hong Kong. THAT'S LIFE MY DARLING swept the Hong Kong Film awards in 1993, winning 6 major awards including Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actress. It is also one of the top grossers of 1993 in Hong Kong. His subsequent movies FULL THROTTLE with Andy Lau and VIVA EROTICA with Leslie Chung and Shu Qi have also been top grossers. VIVA EROTICA is a final selection at the Berlin Film Festival.

Interestingly, Derek has demonstrated an uncanny ability to make stars out of fresh faces, especially his female leads. He is credited with the meteoric rise to fame of Hong Kong actress Anita Yuen and Shu Qi, who have both won awards for roles in his movies. Derek has won recognition as a director in Asia and Europe and continues to create films with the highest standards.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2002.

Derek Yee Facts

OccupationDirector, Writer

Selected Filmography

Not available.