Wai Ka-fai was born in Hong Kong on 21 September 1962 and is a screenwriter, director and producer, a defining figure of Milkyway Image. He grew up in Wah Fu Estate on Hong Kong Island, one of four siblings, his younger brother the TVB actor Wai Ka-hung and his younger sister the ViuTV producer Wai Ka-wa; his parents divorced when he was ten, leaving the family in straitened circumstances and at one point lodging with an uncle. After secondary school he worked as a cashier and watchman, and in 1981 answered a television advertisement for writers to join TVB, working under Leung Kin-cheung on The Flying Eighteen (1982) before the training course ended, and later on adaptations of The Return of the Condor Heroes (1983) and The Duke of Mount Deer (1984). Promoted to assistant creative director in 1985, he edited series such as the New Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre sequels and Looking Back in Anger, and became a producer two years later; in 1990 he moved with Simon Yam, Felix Wong and Szeto Kam-yuen to ATV, and returning to TVB in 1992 wrote the anniversary drama The Greed of Man, which caused a sensation with its fatalistic story of family and the stock market. He directed his first film, Peace Hotel, in 1995 and formed Milkyway Image with Johnnie To in 1996; their first release, Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 (1997), already revealed his experiments with multiple timelines. He co-directed Wu Yen, My Left Eye Sees Ghosts, Running on Karma and Mad Detective with To, and produced Needing You (2000) and Love on a Diet (2001). In 2003 his film Running on Karma won Best Film and Best Screenplay at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards, and Mad Detective (2007) took Best Screenplay at the 27th. In 2022 he wrote and directed Detective vs. Sleuths, which swept Best Director and Best Screenplay at the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards in 2023. Wai has won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Screenplay three times and the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award for Best Screenplay seven times.
Through Milkyway Image, formed with Johnnie To, Wai brought multiple timelines and fatalistic themes to Hong Kong crime cinema in films such as Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 (1997) and Mad Detective (2007); he has won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Screenplay three times, for Running on Karma, Mad Detective and Detective vs. Sleuths.
Achievements
- 2003 · Won Best Film and Best Screenplay at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards for Running on Karma.
- 2007 · Co-directed Mad Detective, which won Best Screenplay at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards.
- 2022 · Wrote and directed Detective vs. Sleuths, winning Best Director and Best Screenplay at the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards.