Friday, February 10, 2017 at 12.15 pm Cinema at the Martin-Gropius-Bau (MGB)
Since 1986 the Berlin International Film Festival has presented the Berlinale Camera to film personalities or institutions to which it feels particularly indebted and wishes to express its thanks.
First awarded in 2016, this prestigious prize will now be presented annually to an outstanding producer.
We would like to invite you to the award ceremony of the Berlinale Camera for producer and distributor Nansun Shi (Hong Kong, China). Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick, EFM Director Matthijs Wouter Knol and EFM President Beki Probst will also attend the event on Friday, February 10 in the cinema of the Martin-Gropius-Bau (MGB). Fred Tsui will give a speech in her honour.
Nansun Shi
Nansun Shi is one of the most important and influential producers and distributors of the international film world. In the 1970s, following her studies in statistics and computer science in London, and before starting her career as a film producer, she was engaged in the field of television in Hong Kong. In 1984, after working as executive director for Cinema City Studios for a number of years, Nansun Shi and renowned director Tsui Hark, founded Film Workshop, their own production company. It wasn’t long before its name was equated with hits at the box office. Their biggest international successes in this period include A Better Tomorrow (1986) by John Woo; Once Upon a Time in China (1991) with Jet Li, and Seven Swords (2005), both of which were directed by Tsui Hark. Produced in 2002, the multiple prize-winning thriller Infernal Affairs was the film on which Martin Scorsese based TheDeparted (2006). In addition, as co-founder of Distribution Workshop, she was committed to her role as distributor of Chinese-language films. She was also the Vice Chairman of the Media Asia Group, one of the largest Asian film studios. In 2011 she served on the jury of the International Film Festival in Cannes, and in 2014 she received the Best Independent Producer Award in Locarno. In 2013 the French government honoured Nansun with the title of Officier de I’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres; in 2015 the Udine Far East Film Festival, with the Golden Mulberry Life Time Achievement Award.
She has close ties with the Berlinale: in 2007 she was a member of the International Jury, and since then has been a regular guest at the Festival. In 2011 she presented Late Autumn (dir: Kim Tae-Yong) in the Forum; and in 2012 Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (dir: Tsui Hark) in the Competition section, where it screened out of competition. Most recently, she produced The Taking of Tiger Mountain, which was a big hit in China.
Modelled on a real camera, the Berlinale Camera has 128 finely crafted components made by Dusseldorf-based goldsmith Georg Hornemann.