"A writer, film reviewer, independent filmmaker, struggling artist..."
Kenji Lui, born in Hong Kong, is currently based in San Francisco. He first studied films at University of Southern California (USC) and later earned his BA in films from University of California at Berkeley (CAL).
As a big fan of Asian cinema, he started writing movie reviews and later founded Cinespot.com, one of the largest bilingual Asian cinema websites, during the time he was studying at UC Berkeley. His writings can also be seen on various commercial websites and publications.
Kenji is also an independent filmmaker, some of his short films like "Yellow Fish", "Thereafter" and "Dedicated" to… have been screened at various film festivals around the world.
Currently, Kenji just finished directing his latest short film "Evolution", and he is writing a feature length script, a dream project he is hoping to have a chance to direct in the future.
=====Q and A=====
First question people asked when they gotta know my education background: Why did you leave USC and go to Cal?
Ans: Yeah USC was cool, I even met George Lucas in one of my classes, but yeah it also sucks, coz they are all too "Hollywood", also the tuition was dreadful. I didn't want to be in debt for more than 10~20 years after graduation... On the positive side, Cal is not bad, with its very strong independent and experimental spirit... oh yeah and I didn't have to pay a buck... You see that's the dilemma for some very broke college students trying to pursue a career in filmmaking.
If anyone wants to know more about my perspectives on filmmaking, and also on cinema in general, please check out my movie reviews and writing (weekly column) on Cinespot.com. (Most of my recent stuff are in Chinese though...)
Some of the stuff I enjoy: Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu, Hayao Miyazaki, Michelangelo Antonioni, Vittorio De Sica, Alfred Hitchcock, Andrei Tarkovsky, George Lucas, Sergei Eisenstein, Kim Ki-duk, Park Chan-wook, Stephen Chow, Johnnie To, Edward Yang, Hou Hsiao Hsien, Jia Zhang-ke...random favorites other than the works of the people above: Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, City Lights, M, Street Angel, Singin' in the Rain, Rear Window, Witness for the Prosecution, Fist of Fury, Private Eyes, Yellow Earth, Christmas in August, Attack the Gas Station, Juliet in Love, Il Mare, Goodbye Dragon Inn
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3239205/
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Pictures I'm tagged in
Evolution (2009)
Christmas Tree Lighting at Union Square, SF
1st of Shooting (Jan 19)
Lucasfilm in Presidio, SF
