Dayyan Eng

Dayyan Eng, known as Wu Shixian in China (Chinese: 伍仕贤; pinyin: Wǔ Shìxían) (Born in Taiwan in 1975), is a Chinese-American filmmaker. He studied film arts at the University of Washington and transferred to the Beijing Film Academy, where he finished his undergraduate studies in directing. In 2001, he wrote and directed Bus 44 (Chinese: 车四十四; pinyin: Chē Sì Shí Sì) starring Chinese film star Gong Beibi. The film premiered and won awards at the 2001 Venice Film Festival and 2002 Sundance Film Festival, and was invited to 2002 Cannes Film Festival "Directors' Fortnight" - becoming the first Chinese short film to be invited in all three festivals' history. The film was covered extensively in the Chinese media and was critically acclaimed in both China and Europe and gained TV and theatrical distribution in territories worldwide. In 2005, Eng wrote and directed a Chinese independent feature film Waiting Alone (Chinese: 独自等待; pinyin: Dú Zì Děng Dài), starring an ensemble cast of Chinese stars including Xia Yu, Gong Beibi, Li Bingbing, and featuring cameos from some of Asia's most well-known actors including Chow Yun-fat. The film has been called one of 2005 "best films" by over 50 media. Waiting Alone became a hit after its September 2005 domestic China wide-release, and went on to receive 3 nominations (including Best Picture) at the Chinese Academy Awards (Golden Rooster Awards) -- the first ever in the history of the awards by a foreign director. The film remains the highest-rated romantic comedy in China on Douban and other review sites. Eng was invited, in 2007, to direct the first-ever opening short for the Chinese academy awards. He got some of Asia’s biggest stars, Ziyi Zhang, Liu Ye and Ge You, to spoof the action-movie genre in a humorous send-up on national TV in China. In 2011, Eng wrote, directed, and produced Inseparable starring Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey, Daniel Wu, Gong Beibi, Yan Ni, and Peter Stormare. The quirky psychological suspense/dramedy debuted a