person poster

Personal Info

Gender

Male

Birthday

1979-11-08 (45 years old)

Place of Birth

Hong Kong, China

Derek Tsang Kwok-Cheung

Biography:

Derek Tsang Kwok-Cheung (曾國祥; born 8 November 1979) is a Hong Kong film director and actor. The son of actor Eric Tsang, Tsang got his start in the Hong Kong film industry working for director Peter Chan Ho-Sun after graduating from the University of Toronto Scarborough in 2001. He made his acting debut in Men Suddenly in Black (2003) and directorial debut with Lover's Discourse (2010), sharing the directing credit with Jimmy Wan Chi-man. The duo was nominated for a Golden Horse Award for Best New Director in 2010.

His solo directorial debut Soul Mate (2016) was critically praised, receiving a Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film nomination at the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards. His next film Better Days (2019) was the Hong Kong submission for the Academy Awards and received a Best International Feature Film nomination, becoming the first Hong Kong submission directed by a Hong Kong native to do so.

After graduation, he moved back to Hong Kong, where his father arranged for him to work under director Peter Chan Ho-Sun. There, he met producer Jojo Hui and director Jimmy Wan Chi-man, both of whom would go on to be Tsang's frequent collaborators.

Despite not pursuing an acting career, Tsang has had a variety of acting roles since the start of his career, which he attributed to other actors not wanting to be typecast into roles with unflattering characteristics. He made his screen debut in Men Suddenly in Black (2003), cameoing as the younger version of his father's character. There he met director Pang Ho-cheung, whom Tsang would later collaborate with on various projects.

Tsang made his solo directorial debut with Soul Mate (2016). He was subsequently nominated for Best Director awards at various film award ceremonies, including at the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards and the 53rd Golden Horse Awards.

His next film, Better Days (2019), won eight out of 12 categories at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film and Best Director. The film was subsequently chosen as the official entry for Hong Kong for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. It was shortlisted but lost to Denmark's Another Round. He was the first native Hong Kong director in the category.

Tsang said his influences are primarily derived from art-house cinema, with early influences from director Wong Kar-wai and the French New Wave, as opposed to his father Eric Tsang's works, which consisted of mostly of mainstream comedies. He credits his half-sister Bowie Tsang for teaching him about film and literature.

Tsang married actress Venus Wong in 2019. He has expressed a reluctance to cast Wong due to the negative perception of nepotism.

Known For

Acting

2021

Anita as ENT Doctor

2020

Stoma as Lim's Brother

2019

2017

Love Off the Cuff as Cherie's Younger Brother
The Brink as Sheng

2016

Robbery as Lau Kin-Ping
House of Wolves as Steve Shit
S Storm as Joe Ma

2015

Lazy Hazy Crazy as Madame Glaze

2014

2013

SDU: Sex Duties Unit as Dried Shrimp

2012

Triad as Xiang
The Thieves as Johnny
My Sassy Hubby as Robber
Love in the Buff as Cherie's Brother

2010

Girl$ as Chun
Dream Home as Cheung Jai
Once a Gangster as Young Roast Pork
Ex as Sol
Crossing Hennessy as Doctor at Emergency Ward

2008

Ocean Flame as Third Brother's Assistant
Run Papa Run as Chicken

2007

Dead Air as Rock/Lok Chun

2006

Isabella as Yan's Suitor
On the Edge as Mini B
Cocktail as Kuen

2005

AV as Band-Aid

2004

The Eye 2 as Joey's Co-Worker

2003

The Park as Dan
Men Suddenly in Black as Young Tin Yau

2001

Directing

2024

3 Body Problem as Director

2021

A New Awakening as Director

2020

Unspeakable Love as Director
三个金币 as Director

2019

Better Days as Director

2016

Good Take! as Director
SoulMate as Director

2012

Lacuna as Director

2010

Lover's Discourse as Director

Writing

2010

Dream Home as Screenplay

2006

Isabella as Writer

Production

2024

3 Body Problem as Co-Executive Producer

2004

Room as Producer

Editing

2004

Room as Editor