Chen Kaige

At the end of 2008, the Chen Kaige blockbuster Forever Enthralled, a movie depicting the legendary Peking Opera actor Mei Lanfang, was a smash hit in China, winning both public praise and box office success. The movie is seen to be another peak in Chen's career after his earlier movie, Golden Palm winner Farewell My Concubine (1993). At the same time, Chen, 57, another leading representative of China's fifth-generation film directors, published his bestselling book Mei Fei Se Wu, sharing his spiritual world and stories behind the screen with readers.

His film career once suffered a setback after his movie The Promise, which received a number of negative reviews, showed in 2005. Chen was under much pressure at that time and chose to endure the hardship in order to realize his film ideas. With the success of Forever Enthralled, Chen returned stronger than ever.