Roseanne Liang

Roseanne Liang is a New Zealand film director.[1] Her first feature film, My Wedding and Other Secrets, was the first theatrically released feature film made by a Chinese New Zealander and became 2011's highest grossing local feature film.[2] She also co-created, directed, and co-wrote the 2021 TV series Creamerie.

Roseanne Liang
Born
New Zealand
Alma materUniversity of Auckland
OccupationFilmmaker
Years active2003–present

Early life

Liang was born in New Zealand to Hong Kong emigrants. Her parents were doctors, one was a pediatrician and the other a surgeon.[3] She has two sisters.[4] Liang attended St Cuthbert's College, Auckland, and was dux of the school in 1995.[5]

She went on to study computer science at the University of Auckland.[3] She graduated with a Masters in Creative and Performing Arts in 2003.[4]

Career

Liang made her directorial debut with the autobiographical documentary film Banana in a Nutshell (2005), which was about her own cross-cultural romance with a Pākehā.[6] The film won Best Documentary at DOCNZ International Documentary Film Festival.[7] Liang won Best Director of Documentary Films at Asian Festival of First Films.[7] The film was screened at New Zealand International Film Festival 2005,[8] where she met John Barnett, a producer from South Pacific Pictures, who requested a feature length adaptation of the documentary.[4]

That project later became the romantic comedy My Wedding and Other Secrets (2011).[1] The film won Best Actress and Best Screenplay Award for a feature film at the Aotearoa Film & Television Awards.[2]

Liang also directed the short film Take 3, which won awards in 2007 at the Berlin and Valladolid Film Festivals, and the hit web series Flat3 and Friday Night Bites.[9][10] In 2008, she was awarded Women in Film and Television International's Woman to Watch Award for Women in Film and Television.[5]

Liang is a part of the Thousand Apologies Collective, a creative cohort of seven writers and filmmakers based in Auckland, New Zealand, which includes Shuchi Kothari and Serina Pearson. They made their television debut with their pan-Asian sketch comedy series A Thousand Apologies on TV3, New Zealand's first prime time Asian program.[11][12] Kothari and Liang later cofounded the Pan-Asian Screen Collective with others in August 2018 to support Asian filmmakers in New Zealand.[13]

In 2017, she directed a short film Do No Harm, which was selected to be shown at the Manhattan Short film festival[14] and the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.[15]

In 2020, Liang directed and co-wrote Shadow in the Cloud, a WWII action-horror film, starring Chloë Grace Moretz from a story treatment by Max Landis. It debuted at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People's Choice Award.[16]

Filmography

Short film

Year Title Director Writer
2005 Rest Stop Yes No
2008 Take 3 Yes Yes
2015 Sugar Hit Yes Yes
2017 Do No Harm Yes Yes

Feature film

Year Title Director Writer Notes
2005 Banana in a Nutshell Yes No Documentary
2011 My Wedding and Other Secrets Yes Yes
2020 Shadow in the Cloud Yes Yes

Television

Year Title Director Writer
2008 A Thousand Apologies Yes Yes
2021 Creamerie Yes Yes
2024 Avatar: The Last Airbender Yes No

Web series

Year Title Director Writer Notes
2013 Flat3 Yes Yes 12 episodes
2016-2018 Friday Night Bites Yes Yes
2017 Unboxed Yes No 6 episodes

Personal life

Liang is married to Stephen Harris, the subject of Banana in a Nutshell.[17] They have two children.[16]

Accolades

References
  1. Debruge, Peter (25 February 2021). "10 Directors to Watch: Roseanne Liang Launches Action Ambitions With 'Shadow in the Cloud'". Variety. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  2. "Roseanne Liang, Writer/Director". WIFT New Zealand. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  3. "Roseanne Liang". ngataonga.org.nz. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  4. Wilford, Judy (Spring 2006). "Filmmaker in a nutshell" (PDF). Ingenio. University of Auckland. pp. 30–31.
  5. "Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards | Old Girls' Association". St Cuthbert's College. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  6. Francesca, Rudkin (7 February 2021). "Roseanne Liang hits Hollywood big leagues with Shadow in the Cloud". The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin (Podcast). Newstalk ZB. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  7. Barclay, Keith (3 March 2014). "Roseanne Liang honoured by University of Auckland". SCREENZ. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  8. Whānau Mārama: Banana in a Nutshell, retrieved 7 March 2021
  9. "Roseanne Liang | NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. NZ On Screen. Retrieved 6 May 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. "Roseanne Liang tipped by Hollywood Reporter as director to watch". Stuff. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  11. "The Asian inversion". Otago Daily Times. 21 October 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  12. Screen, NZ On. "A Thousand Apologies | Series | Television | NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  13. Medel, Mariah Alyssa (4 September 2018). "New collective fights for Asians on NZ screens". Newsroom. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  14. "Kiwi short film Do No Harm earns Oscars nod at Manhattan Short". Stuff. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  15. "Gunning for Hollywood and #TimesUp for NZ". RNZ. 25 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  16. "Roseanne Liang on Shadow In The Cloud". www.wiftnz.org.nz. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  17. Morgan, Scott (10 March 2011). "Casting a light on culture clash". Stuff. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  18. "SPADA celebrates film industry achievements". The Big Idea Editor. 25 November 2005. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
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