Patrick Leung

Patrick Leung Pak-kin (; born 1959) is a Hong Kong filmmaker. After graduating from university in 1982, he joined Cinema City Enterprises and began working as John Woo's assistant director, on films including A Better Tomorrow, The Killer (1989), and Hard Boiled (1992). He also co-wrote Bullet in the Head (1990) with Woo.

Leung made his directorial debut in 1996 with Somebody Up There Likes Me, and went on to direct films including La Brassiere, Born Wild (both 2001), The Twins Effect II (2004), and Wu Dang (2012). He also continued collaborating with Woo as second unit director on the two-part epics Red Cliff (2008–2009) and The Crossing (2014–2015). In 2026, his film Ciao UFO won Best Film and earned him Best Director in the 44th Hong Kong Film Awards.

Early life and education Leung was born in 1959 in Hong Kong. He studied film at the School of Communication of Hong Kong Baptist College, During his studies, he worked as a script supervision intern for John Woo's 1982 film To Hell with the Devil. and he briefly worked at an advertising company for three months after graduation before joining the film studio Cinema City Enterprises. and they went on to make A Better Tomorrow, A Better Tomorrow II, and The Killer. Film critic Li Cheuk-to found the film to possess "a rarely high level of overall production quality in Hong Kong cinema", writing that Leung "already displayed the bearing of a seasoned director in his debut, accurately and pleasingly integrating the professionalism of each technical department", although he noted that it lacked "a personal style". The film also received one Golden Horse Awards nomination and two Hong Kong Film Awards nominations. Film scholar David Bordwell also found that Leung had "paid his tribute to tradition by assigning a different style to each action scene", citing influences from Woo's gun fu, traditional wuxia films, and kung fu comedies.

Leung went on to co-direct the 2001 film La Brassiere with . He also released Born Wild that same year, although Ted Shen of the Chicago Reader reviewed it negatively, writing that Leung "spends more time posing his actors than directing them, and the film's visual energy and stylized soft-core sex fail to mask its trite plot and Neanderthal misogyny". In 2002, he released two more features, Mighty Baby and , He collaborated with Chan Hing-kai again on the 2003 film Good Times, Bed Times and with Corey Yuen on The Twins Effect II in 2004. During a reshoot at Xiaotangshan, Beijing, for Red Cliff: Part 2, which Leung supervised, two ships collided and caught fire, causing one death and six injuries. Leung recruited to write a screenplay about dragon boat racing and completed the film within four months. In 2024, he became a part-time lecturer at the Academy of Film of Hong Kong Baptist University, where he taught in its MFA programs. Ciao UFO began limited screenings in December 2025. The film won Best Film, while Leung received Best Director in the 44th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2026. Leung is married and has a daughter.

Filmography As director Year Title Notes/1996 Somebody Up There Likes Me Beyond Hypothermia 1997 Task Force 2001 La Brassiere Born Wild 2002 Mighty Baby 2003 Good Times, Bed Times 2004 The Twins Effect II 2006 Black Night 2007 2010 2012 Wu Dang 2019 Ciao UFO

Other credits Year Title Assistant director Second unit director Notes/ 1982 To Hell with the Devil As intern 1987 A Better Tomorrow II 1991 Once a Thief Tiger Cage 3 As screenwriter 1992 Hard Boiled 2009 Red Cliff: Part 2 2014 The Crossing: Part 1 2015 The Crossing: Part 2 2017 Manhunt

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result 2026 32nd Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Best DirectorCiao UFO 21st Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild Awards Best Director 44th Hong Kong Film Awards Best Director