Alex Cheung Kwok Ming

Biography

Alex Cheung Kwok Ming was born in Hong Kong in 1951. His father, a tailor and traditional Chinese clothing merchant, passed away when he was one year old, and he was raised by his mother who rented out parts of their home to make ends meet, with the family moving several times. He grew up in various parts of Hong Kong including Yuen Long and Kowloon. He attended several schools including Tong Tak School, Chung Wa Christian College, and Tang King Po School. He was a member of his school's photography group and learned tailoring from his brother. In 1968, he submitted a self-taken photograph to a newspaper photography contest and was subsequently hired at Golden Harvest film company through a friend's referral. After leaving a toy manufacturing job, he participated in a 1973 experimental film competition and won three merit awards, then joined TVB as a director. In 1979, he transitioned to the film industry, signing with Hong Kong Fengming Films and later Shaw Brothers in 1980. His greatest achievement came in 1982 when he won the Best Director award at the Golden Horse Awards for the film "The Man on the Edge." Later, his 1983 film "The Starry Starry Night" faced poor box office and critical reception. In 1996, he began working as a freelance director for Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption, officially joining in 1998 as a senior director and producing eleven works over eighteen years. He retired from the Commission in 2015, planning to return to the film industry. He is married to Yuan Huan Yu, a former producer at Shaw Brothers, and they have a daughter named Zhang Yanqi.