Arthur Wong Ngok-tai (born 2 July 1956), whose family roots are in Taishan, Guangdong, is a Hong Kong cinematographer and the son of Wong Jat, a leading cameraman of the 1950s and 1960s who shot classics such as Buddha's Palm and the Wong Fei-hung series, so he grew up on film sets. He first entered the industry in 1973 on the Hong Kong shoot of a Golden Harvest Western, moved to Shaw Brothers as a camera assistant in 1975 and began shooting in 1976; he has since worked on more than 110 feature films and is the founder and honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Society of Cinematographers. He won the Hong Kong Film Award for best cinematography nine times between 1983 and 2010, more than any other person: he took the first-ever best cinematography prize for He Lives by Night in 1983, followed a hat-trick from 1998 to 2000 for The Soong Sisters, Sleepless Town and Purple Storm, further wins in 2002 and 2004, and a second hat-trick from 2008 to 2010. He has twelve more nominations at those awards, plus eight Golden Horse nominations and one win, for Purple Storm at the 36th Golden Horse Awards. He has worked with directors such as John Woo, Ringo Lam, Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Yuen Woo-ping, Ann Hui and Tsui Hark, and is known for his multi-camera simultaneous shooting technique and for handling large-scale staging. He has also worked as a director, screenwriter and producer.
With more than a hundred films and nine Hong Kong Film Awards for cinematography, Wong became the most honoured cameraman of Hong Kong cinema. Known for his multi-camera simultaneous shooting and for co-founding the cinematographers' society, he left a lasting mark on the craft's local tradition.
Achievements
- 1983 · Won the first Hong Kong Film Award for best cinematography for He Lives by Night
- 1998 · Won for The Soong Sisters, beginning a three-year run of best cinematography wins to 2000
- 2010 · Won again in 2010 for a record ninth best cinematography award