Taiwanese multihyphenate honored for five-decade career spanning acting, directing, producing
Taiwanese filmmaker Sylvia Chang will receive the 2025 Camellia Award at the Busan International Film Festival, organizers announced Tuesday. The honor, presented in partnership with Chanel, recognizes women who have made significant cultural and artistic contributions to Asian cinema.
Chang, 71, brings five decades of industry experience to the accolade. She has appeared in over 100 films and has directed 15 features since her debut behind the camera in the 1980s. Her directorial work includes "20 30 40," which competed for the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2004, and "Love Education," which closed BIFF in 2017 and earned her the Hong Kong Film Awards' best screenplay prize.
The record holder for most Golden Horse acting nominations with 11 nods and three wins, Chang has built her reputation across multiple disciplines.
She produced films including Edward Yang's directorial debut "That Day on the Beach," widely considered the starting point of the Taiwanese New Wave that reshaped Chinese-language cinema in the 1980s. She also enjoyed success as a pop star, with her 1992 song "The Price of Love" becoming a megahit across the Chinese-speaking world.
France previously honored Chang with the Chevalier grade of the Order of Arts and Letters recognition. She's also collected lifetime achievement awards from the Asian Film Awards and Udine's Far East Film Festival.
"It's a blessing to be a filmmaker for 53 years, and still going on," Chang said in a statement. She is attending this year's Busan film fest with "Measure in Love."
The award will be presented at BIFF's opening ceremony on Sept. 17. The festival runs through Sept. 26 at the Busan Cinema Center and venues throughout the city.
moonkihoon@heraldcorp.com
