Director Benny Chan dies at 58

HONG KONG • Hong Kong director Benny Chan, who is known for directing movies such as New Police Story (2004) and A Moment Of Romance (1990), died of cancer on Sunday at 58.

He leaves behind his wife, a son and a daughter.

According to Hong Kong media reports, Chan was feeling unwell last year when he was directing crime movie Raging Fire, starring Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse. He was diagnosed with late-stage nasopharyngeal cancer after a health screening and was unable to take part in the post-production of the film.

Chan joined Hong Kong broadcaster TVB in 1982 and was the assistant to famous director Johnnie To. Chan became a TV director in 1985 and had co-directed classics such as The Flying Fox Of Snowy Mountain (1985) and The New Heaven Sword And The Dragon Sabre (1986), TV adaptations of Louis Cha's martial arts novels.

He made his movie directorial debut in 1990 with A Moment Of Romance, starring Hong Kong actor Andy Lau and Taiwanese actress Jacklyn Wu. The action romance movie received rave reviews, with Lau's character Wah Dee becoming a classic character.

Chan was nominated for Best Director five times at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Big Bullet (1996), Heroic Duo (2003), New Police Story, Connected (2008) and The White Storm (2013), but did not win on all five occasions.

His final movie Raging Fire will be released posthumously.

Hong Kong celebrities, including Louis Koo, Lau, Tse, Miriam Yeung, Stephen Fung, Charlene Choi and Aaron Kwok, paid tribute to Chan.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 25, 2020, with the headline Director Benny Chan dies at 58. Subscribe