Feng Xiaogang in 2008.
 
Feng Xiaogang on Wikipedia
Feng Xiaogang on the Internet Movie Database
 
 
 
 
 
 
Feng Xiaogang
Forecourt Ceremony held on Friday, November 1, 2013
 
Born: March 18, 1958, in Beijing, China
Age at the time of the ceremony: 55
 
Feng Xiaogang is the most financially successful director of films in China. A writer, director, producer, and very occasionally, actor, Feng is a superstar in China, alternating between well-liked comedies, and eye-opening historical epics.

Feng's father was a college professor, while his mother was a nurse. In Beijing, he joined a sort of art magnet school, called the Beijing Military Region Art Troupe (which he would later film an account of as Fang hua - Youth in 2017.

Attracted to design initially, Feng realized that scripting and direction were part of the "design" of a film, so he focused on learning these aspects of film production.

His first film was co-directing (with Zheng Xiaolong) the comedy romance Beijing ren zai Niu Yue - A Native of Beijing in New York (released in 1993) with Wen Jiang. He soloed on Yong shi wo ai - Gone Forever My Love (released in 1994) with Guo Tao. This was followed by the office drama television show Yi di ji mao - (aired in 1995) with Chen Daoming.

Feng directed and co-starred in the comedy about actors granting wishes to people in Jia fang yi fang - The Dream Factory (released in February 1997) with Ge You. The film was so popular, that critics began to think Feng's films could compete with Hollywood product in the Chinese marketplace.

Feng just kept going: he co-wrote and directed Bu jian bu san - Be There or Be Square (released in 1998) with Ge You, then directed the comedy drama Mei wan mei liao - Sorry Baby (released in December 1999) with Ge You.

Feng co-wrote and directed the family drama Yi sheng tan xi - A Sigh (released in 2000) with Zhang Guoli, and co-wrote and directed Da wan (released in December 2001) with Donald Sutherland as a film director forced by failing health to turn his film over to his idiot cameraman. Sounds fun!

Feng produced and directed a cautionary tale of cell phone data in the thriller comedy Shou ji - Cell Phone (released in December 2003) with Ge You. In Feng's next film Tian xia wu zei - A World Without Thieves (released in December 2004) Andy Lau plays a young man constantly being robbed on Chinese railways. The film became a record-breaking hit.

Feng directed a loose retelling of Hamlet - Ye yan - The Banquet (released in September 2006) with Zhang Ziyi, then produced and directed the Chinese Civil War film Ji jie hao - Assembly (released in December 2007) with Zhang Hanyu, which became a large hit in China.

It is common to say that Feng's career has drifted from comedies to historical dramas. Perhaps, but Feng has zig-zagged along the way. He wrote and directed the rom-com Fei cheng wu rao - If You Are the One (released in December 2008) with Ge You, which was another hit, spawning a sequel.

On the historical side, Feng directed a film depicting the Tangshan Earthquake of 1976 in Tang shan da di zhen - Aftershock (released in July 2010) starring Feng's wife, actress Xu Fan. Aftershock became the highest-grossing Chinese-made film in history.

Feng produced, co-wrote and directed the comedy Fei cheng wu rao 2 - If You Are the One 2 (released in December 2010) with Ge You. But the historical films had better profit margins, so he directed the historical film Yi jiu si er - Back to 1942 (released in November 2012) with Zhang Guoli.

Just before the release in China of his next film, Feng was invited to make his imprints in the Chinese Theatre Forecourt. The film he directed Si ren ding zhi - Personal Tailor (released in December 2013) with Ge You, is a bit of a re-working of The Dream Factory, but that didn't stop it from making $100 million bucks. . .

Feng starred in the hard-hitting family drama Lao pao er - Mr. Six (released in September 2015) with Zhang Hanyu, for which he received many awards in the Far East for his role in this film. He produced and directed the revenge comedy Wo bu shi Pan Jin Lian - I Am Not Madame Bovary (released in November 2016) with Dong Chengpeng.

Looking back to his own youth, Feng produced and directed Fang hua - Youth (released in December 2017) with Huang Xuan. This might be his big crossover hit, playing in lots of film festivals around the world, and making $235 million dollars in China (that's right!).

Feng had directed Zhi you yun zhi dao - Only Cloud Knows (released in December 2019) with Xuan Huang, and Cell Phone 2 (release held up by the Coronavirus) with Bingbing Fan. Feng has directed the television show Bei Che Nan Yuan - Crossroad Bistro with Luodan Wang, aired in July 2021.
 
 
TCL Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Feng XiaogangForecourt block. Executed by unknown, Friday, November 1, 2013. 37 x 24 inches.
TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX®, Hollywood, California. Feng Xiaogang Forecourt ceremony, Friday, November 1, 2013. Feng Xiaogang shows off his mitts after placing them in the wet cement.
 
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