Kiwi Chow Kwun-wai, born in 1979, is a Hong Kong film director and screenwriter. He majored in directing at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, shot his first short drama in his second year and graduated with first-class honours in 2004, winning the academy's best director prize for his graduation film. He then directed and edited making-of features for films including Fearless and worked as a continuity man and assistant director; from 2005 he taught part-time at the academy while his short films won prizes at local and international festivals. He earned a master's degree in film production in 2013 and that year directed A Complicated Story, produced by Johnnie To and premiered at the 37th Hong Kong International Film Festival. His segment Self-immolator in the 2015 anthology Ten drew the most attention, and the film, made of five short pieces, went on to win best film at the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards. His 2020 feature Beyond the Dream, about romance between people recovering from mental illness, took more than fifteen million Hong Kong dollars at the local box office, placing among the year's top ten Hong Kong films, and won best adapted screenplay at the 57th Golden Horse Awards while earning him a best director nomination at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards. His 2021 documentary Revolution of Our Times screened at Cannes and won best documentary at the 58th Golden Horse Awards. In 2023 he released the feature A Perfect Wedding, and a later film about education was refused a Hong Kong censor's certificate and could not open locally.
Chow brought Hong Kong's protest experience to international festivals through Self-immolator and Revolution of Our Times, drawing global attention to locally made political documentaries. Beyond the Dream, about a man recovering from mental illness, balanced commercial appeal with art-house sensitivity and grossed over HK$15 million in Hong Kong.
Achievements
- 2016 · Ten won best film at the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards; he directed its Self-immolator segment.
- 2020 · Beyond the Dream won best adapted screenplay at the 57th Golden Horse Awards and earned him a best director nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
- 2021 · Revolution of Our Times won best documentary at the 58th Golden Horse Awards and screened at Cannes.