Oliver Chan Siu-kuen

Oliver Chan Siu-kuen (; born 11 November 1987) is a Hong Kong filmmaker. She made her directorial debut with Still Human, which earned her an Asian Film Award and a Hong Kong Film Award.

Early life and education Chan was born on 11 November 1987 in Hong Kong. She chose the English name Oliver, inspired by the titular character from Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist. She is the second child, with a sister seven years older than her, and her father abandoned the family upon her birth after discovering she was a girl. Chan grew up with her mother and sister in Oi Man Estate, Ho Man Tin, and later moved to another public housing estate in To Kwa Wan. where she took science subjects, achieving 4A4B in HKCEE and 2A3B in HKALE. After graduation, she took a gap year to go on a working holiday in New Zealand, Sapporo, and Tibet. After completing her three-year traineeship, Chan decided to leave her job to pursue a Master of Arts in Producing for Film, Television, and New Media at Hong Kong Baptist University, where she studied for three years alongside fellow filmmaker Norris Wong. During her studies, she worked part-time as a tutor, saleswoman, and teaching assistant to make a living.

Career While pursuing her master's degree, Chan entered several short film competitions and applied to be a writing assistant for various projects, including the ViuTV series 3X1 and six film projects that ultimately did not proceed. Fionnuala Halligan of Screen Daily praised Chan's "deft writing" with "strong local flavour" and called Still Human "a real Hong Kong treat"; while Justin Lowe from The Hollywood Reporter commended her for excellent portrayal the "precarious lives of overseas Filipino workers with compassion and insight". Chan won Best New Director in the 13th Asian Film Awards and Best New Director in the 38th Hong Kong Film Awards for the film. In a social media post from June 2024, Chan stated she was removed from the team after submitting the full 10-episode screenplay once funding was secured, and she accused the production crew of using her name to scout locations without compensation or credit. However, the series creator later rebuted on social media, claiming Chan had only submitted five episodes before voluntarily resigning due to her pregnancy, and explained that the crew retained her credit early in the project to honor her contributions but later removed it with Chan's approval in September 2019. The film revolves around a postpartum mother, inspired by Chan's personal experiences. while Edmund Lee of the South China Morning Post found the screenplay "single-minded, borderline monotonous", contrasting sharply with her heartwarming debut.

Personal life Chan married in 2016,

Filmography Year Title Director Screenwriter Editor Notes 2016 3X1 Television series 2018 Still Human 25th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Best Screenplay 12th Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild Awards Best New Director 38th Hong Kong Film Awards Best Director Best Screenplay Best New Director