Raymond To Kwok-Wai (Chinese: 杜國威) (born 13 August 1946) is a Hong Kong contemporary dramatist, screenwriter and film director, with ancestry from Panyu, Guangzhou, China. Raymond's broadcast script was once broadcast in New York by Chung Wah Commercial Broadcast. He has created more than 60 stage plays, including "Born in Hong Kong", "Boundless Movement", "Dark Tales", "Fuso passing", "I Have a Date with Spring", "Mad Phoenix", "Walled City", "Love Avalokitesvara "," Miss Du ", " Forever"," Adventure, "," Broadcasting Lovers "and" Sentimental Journey "etc. Among those works, "I am a Hong Konger" was tour performed in Europe. In addition, Raymond has written "Under the Roof", "Below the Lion Rock" and other popular series for RTHK. Raymond is not only a prolific and exhaustive screenwriter. Besides, he is the composer and lyrics writer for the scripts, such as "Sentimental Journey", "In love with Sister Liu", etc.

Raymond To Kwok-Wai
Raymond To at 2024 Hong Kong Book Fair
Born (1946-08-13) 13 August 1946 (age 78)
China
Occupation(s)Dramatist, screenwriter & film director
Awards
Hong Kong Film AwardsBest Screenplay
1994 I Have a Date with Spring
1997 The Mad Phoenix

Golden Horse AwardsBest Adapted Screenplay
1997 The Mad Phoenix

Chinese name
Traditional Chinese杜國威
Simplified Chinese杜国威
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinDù guówēi (Mandarin)
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingDou6 gwok3 wai1 (Cantonese)
This is a Chinese name; the family name is To.

Early life

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Raymond To has a sister, Mei Zi (formerly Duyan Zhi), who is an announcer. During his childhood, Raymond had the reputation of being a "broadcasting prodigy" after he participated in Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) and Rediffusion Television programmes. In his early years, he performed in movies including "The affairs of Miss Ping" and "The Fatherless Son".

In 1971 and 1982, Raymond graduated from the Department of Geography at University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Institute of Education.

Career

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After graduation, he became a high school teacher at Ho Lap College and was responsible for the school drama club, one of the four kings - Andy Lau, being one of his students. At this time, he was already an amateur writer. He began his second career as a professional playwright when, in 1979, his short play "Ball" was selected by the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre for excellence in script writing. and for which he was invited to participate in the performance of "Rickshaw Boy/Camel Xiangzi".

On 3 June 1995, Raymond To, together with Ko Tin Lung and Clifton Ko founded the "Spring Stage Production Company". In addition to being the theatre company's playwright, he is also an artistic director. Although the majority of his original work is for the stage, some have been adapted for film, with To being responsible for many of these adaptions. Raymond To was elected as the president of the Hong Kong Film Writers' Guild. During 2000, Raymond directed his own work for the first time, "Forever and Ever", to much acclaim.

Filmography (1956–2005)

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Year Film Credited as
1956 The Fatherless Son (Part 1) Actor
1960 The Affairs of Miss Ping (Part 1) Actor
1961 The Affairs of Miss Ping (Part 2) Actor
1984 Shanghai Blues Writer
1986 Goodbye Mammie, Peking Opera Blues Writer
1988 Call Girl '88 Writer
1989 Mr. Sunshine Writer
1990 When Fortune Smiles,To Spy with Love!!,Shanghai Shanghai Writer
1991 Zodiac Killers Writer
1992 Shogun and Little Kitchen, Taking Manhattan Writer
1993 The Bride with White Hair 2 Writer
1994 One of the Lucky Ones Presenter
I Have a Date with Spring Presenter & Producer
The Returning,One of the Lucky Ones, Oh! My Three Guys, It's a Wonderful Life Writer
1995 Sea Root Director
Paradise Hotel Producer
The Umbrella Story, "Remember M, Remember E" Writer
1996 Stooge, My Love, Hu-Du-Men Writer
1997 The Mad Phoenix, Hu-Du-Men, "Ah Fai, the Dumb",My Dad Is a Jerk! Writer
1998 Ninth Happiness Writer
1999 The Doctor in Spite of Himself Writer
2000 What Is a Good Teacher Writer
2001 Forever and Ever Director & Writer
Love au Zen, The Dark Tales Writer
2002 May & August Director & Writer
2003 Master Q: Incredible Pet Detective, Miss Du Shi Niang Director & Writer
2004 Forever Yours Presenter, Producer & Writer
2005 Perhaps Love Writer

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work
The 2nd Session of the Hong Kong Drama Awards Presentation Ceremony Best Adapted Screenplay "The Dark Tales" (2001)
The 3nd[clarification needed] Session of the Hong Kong Drama Awards Presentation Ceremony Best Adapted Screenplay "The Mad Phoenix" (1997)
Hong Kong Film Awards & Hong Kong Screenwriters' Guild Best Adapted Screenplay & Recommend Screenplay Award "I Have a Date with Spring" (1994)
Golden Horse Awards & The 17th Hong Kong Film Awards Best Adapted Screenplay "The Mad Phoenix"(1994)
1989 Hong Kong Artist Awards Best Playwright
1995 Hong Kong Federation of Drama Societies Awards People of the Year
1997 Louis Cartier Excellence Award
1999 The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China Bronze Bauhinia Star (BBS)
2005 The University of Hong Kong Honorary University Fellow

References

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  • "Raymond To Kwok-Wai", Hong Kong Artists' Filmography, HKMDB, retrieved 31 March 2014
  • "To, Raymond Kwok Wai", Honorary University Fellows, HKU, retrieved 1 April 2014
  • "To Kwok-Wai(Sir Raymond To)", Raymond To's Bibliography, TokwokWai.com, retrieved 31 March 2014 (Chinese Web.)
  • "Raymond To Kwok-Wai", Raymond To's Bibliography (in Chinese), Hong Kong Screenwriters' Guild, retrieved 31 March 2014
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