Hong Kong director, producer, and screenwriter Tsui Hark is to receive the Maverick Director Award at the 8th Rome Film Festival (Nov 8-17).

The award is dedicated to auteurs who have contributed to the invention of a new, non-conformist cinema.

Marco Müller, artistic director of the Rome Film Festival, said: “Tsui Hark will always be one step ahead. He has never stopped experimenting, delving deep into the genres, exploring the limits of technology as he follows its non-stop evolution.

“He has reinterpreted the Chinese filmmaking tradition, turning the codes and conventions of Western cinema upside down.”

Hark has had a prolific film career with past credits including Double Team (1997), Knock Off  (1998) and Seven Swords (2005) as well as the film series Once Upon A Time in China and the A Chinese Ghost Story trilogy.

The award will be presented by French director Olivier Assayas (L’eau froide, Irma Vep, Les Destinées Sentimentales) and will be accompanied by a master class with Tsui Hark.

Tsui Hark’s new film, Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon 3D (Di Renjie zhi shendu longwang 3D), is a prequel to Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (Di Renjie, 2010) and will be presented Out of Competition at the festival.

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