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Tony Leung Chiu-wai has been appointed to lead the main competition jury at the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival, which will commence on June 12, 2026. Widely recognized as one of the most accomplished actors in Chinese-language cinema, Leung has built a career spanning over 40 years with more than 100 screen credits. He has collaborated repeatedly with many of the region’s most celebrated auteurs, including Wong Kar-wai, Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, John Woo, Hou Hsiao-hsien, and Tran Anh Hung.
What Do We Know?
Tony Leung Chiu-wai will preside over the main competition jury at the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival, starting on June 12, 2026.
Leung is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished actors in Chinese-language cinema, with a career spanning over 40 years and more than 100 screen credits. He has worked repeatedly with many of the region’s most beloved directors, including Wong Kar-wai, Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, John Woo, Hou Hsiao-hsien, and Tran Anh Hung.
Key Milestones
Leung is also a regular presence at film festivals. Most recently, he served as president of the main competition jury at the 2024 Tokyo International Film Festival. This followed his historic achievement in 2023, when he became the first Chinese actor to receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 80th Venice International Film Festival.
He extended warm greetings and an invitation to filmmakers and audiences worldwide, adding, "I still have a few tickets left. Will you come with me?"
Why Does This Name Remain Important?
Leung entered the entertainment industry in 1982 and made his screen debut in 1983. He rose through Hong Kong’s TVB network before becoming a key figure in the territory’s second wave and post-handover cinema.
His filmography offers a comprehensive overview of Chinese-language auteur cinema over the past four decades. Notable collaborations include seven films with Wong Kar-wai, such as Chungking Express, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, 2046, and The Grandmaster; Zhang Yimou’s wuxia landmark Hero; Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution; John Woo’s Hard Boiled and Red Cliff; and Hou Hsiao-hsien’s A City of Sadness and Flowers of Shanghai.
What’s Next?
Beyond Chinese-language cinema, Leung starred in Tran Anh Hung’s Cyclo and recently collaborated with Hungarian Oscar winner Ildikó Enyedi.
Some of his most celebrated performances include the quietly devastated Chow Mo-wan in In the Mood for Love—for which he won the Best Actor award at Cannes in 2000, becoming the first actor from Hong Kong to do so—the conflicted swordsman Broken Sword in Hero, and the wisecracking Ouyang Feng in Jeffrey Lau’s cult comedy The Eagle Shooting Heroes, among many others.
Source
This news has been re-edited based on a report published by hollywoodreporter.com, while preserving the essential facts presented in the original source.