About

Known credits:
60
Birthday:
1979-11-08
Place of birth:
Hong Kong, China
Website:
N/A

Derek Tsang Kwok-Cheung

Overview

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 Actor ENT Doctor 59
Average
2020 Stoma Actor Lim's Brother 58
Average
2019 Missbehavior Actor 59
Average
2017 The Brink Actor Sheng 58
Average
2017 Love Off the Cuff Actor Cherie's Younger Brother 59
Average
2016 S Storm Actor Joe Ma 58
Average
2016 Robbery Actor Lau Kin-Ping 59
Average
2016 From Vegas to Macau III Actor Interpol 57
Average
2016 House of Wolves Actor Steve Shit 58
Average
2015 Lazy Hazy Crazy Actor Madame Glaze 58
Average
2014 The Challenge Actor N/A
N/A
2014 Two for the Night Actor N/A
N/A
2014 Zombie Fight Club Actor David 58
Average
2014 Z Storm Actor Joe Ma 59
Average
2014 Aberdeen Actor 58
Average
2014 挑战 Actor N/A
N/A
2014 Naked Ambition 3D Actor Simon Yuen 58
Average
2014 Golden Chickensss Actor Male Prostitute 58
Average
2013 SDU: Sex Duties Unit Actor Dried Shrimp 59
Average
2012 My Sassy Hubby Actor Robber 58
Average
2012 Triad Actor Xiang 58
Average
2012 The Thieves Actor Johnny 61
Fair
2012 Love in the Buff Actor Cherie's Brother 59
Average
2010 Girl$ Actor Chun 58
Average
2010 Ex Actor Sol 58
Average
2010 Once a Gangster Actor Young Roast Pork 59
Average
2010 Dream Home Actor Cheung Jai 60
Fair
2010 Crossing Hennessy Actor Doctor at Emergency Ward 59
Average
2008 Claustrophobia Actor John 58
Average
2008 Ocean Flame Actor Third Brother's Assistant 58
Average
2008 Tactical Unit - No Way Out Actor Fai 59
Average
2008 Run Papa Run Actor Chicken 58
Average
2008 Scare 2 Die Actor 58
Average
2007 Dead Air Actor Rock/Lok Chun 58
Average
2007 Single Blog Actor N/A
N/A
2006 My Name Is Fame Actor Lok 59
Average
2006 On the Edge Actor Mini B 59
Average
2006 Midnight Running Actor Peter 58
Average
2006 The Third Eye Actor Gum 58
Average
2006 Isabella Actor Yan's Suitor 59
Average
2006 Cocktail Actor Kuen N/A
N/A
2005 AV Actor Band-Aid 59
Average
2005 It Had To Be You Actor 58
Average
2004 The Eye 2 Actor Joey's Co-Worker 58
Average
2003 The Park Actor Dan 58
Average
2003 Men Suddenly in Black Actor Young Tin Yau 59
Average
2001 Shadow Actor 58
Average

Directing

2021 A New Awakening Directing Director N/A
N/A
2020 Unspeakable Love Directing Director N/A
N/A
2020 三个金币 Directing Director 59
Average
2019 Better Days Directing Director 69
Fair
2016 SoulMate Directing Director 60
Fair
2016 Good Take! Directing Director 58
Average
2012 Lacuna Directing Director 58
Average
2010 Lover's Discourse Directing Director 58
Average

Writing

2010 Dream Home Writing Screenplay 60
Fair
2006 Isabella Writing Writer 59
Average

Production

2024 3 Body Problem Production Co-Executive Producer 74
Good
2004 Room Production Producer N/A
N/A

Editing

2004 Room Editing Editor N/A
N/A