The official website of the Busan International Film Festival announced on Aug. 15 that the New Currents competition in the Asian films section will have the multi-hyphenate Taiwanese Sylvia Chang lead the jury.
Indian director-screenwriter-producer-actor Anurag Singh Kashyap (“Black Friday,” “That Girl in Yellow Boots”), German actress Nastassja Kinski (“Tess,” “An American Rhapsody”), South Korean director-screenwriter Kim Tae-yong (“Family Ties,” “Late Autumn”) and American film critic and 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist for criticism Stephanie Zacharek comprise the jury.
Chang, 62, first started as an actress and a singer in the early ‘70s. She then worked behind the camera, initially as a director beginning the early ‘80s, next as a writer in the early ‘90s.
She successfully juggled these different roles through the years.
The two-time Hong Kong Film Award-winner for Best Actress was only 19 when cast for her first movie role in Tong Sang’s 1973 “The Flying Tiger.”
Moviegoers can see her shine again in the big screen via Johnnie To’s musical comedy-drama, “Office,” opposite Chow Yun-fat. Showing in September, To and Chang produced it.
Chang’s directing skills were first put to use in the 1978 drama, “Once Upon a Time,” and was last tested in the 2015 romance drama, “Murmur of the Hearts.” She also wrote the screenplay of these two films.
Kolin Records produced her first four albums, the first one being “Never Say Goodbye” in 1973. Her last five albums were produced by Rock Records, with the final one, “The Price of Love,” released in 1992.
As an actress, she gets credited in 90 films; as a director, 14; as a screenwriter, 16; and as a producer, six.
What’s next for Sylvia Chang?
The 20th Busan International Film Festival will be held from Oct. 1-10, 2015.