JAMES LEE
李添興
Film and Theater Director, Writer and Actor
James Lee is an award winning independent filmmaker from Malaysia. started his acting and directing career in the theater scene working for various stage productions and eventually joined the director mentorship program with Joe Hasham (The Actors Studio Malaysia) and the late Krishen Jit (Five Arts Centre).
He's also one of the pioneers of indie digital video film-making. On top of directing he has shot, produced and acted in short & feature films. His films has won awards in film festivals in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Philippines and Singapore.
In 2007 the 9th Deauville Asian Film Festival France had a special focus on the movies of James Lee as a talent to watch. This focus was to acknowledge Lee’s status as one of the pioneer digital filmmakers of the region.
In 2014, the website won the DiGi WWWOW award for the content category. And was invited as a speaker in the TEDxKL 2015.
In 2015 he won Director of the Year in the Singapore advertising award GONG for the branded short film "Last Day of School" which also picked up the Cannes Silver Lion Award in 2016.
AWARDS
Special Focus
Receiving the Silver Digital Award for "Call If You Need Me"
Actor
Special Focus
TEA TIME WITH JOHN
RD Pestonji Award – International Best Short Film
Thai Short Film & Video Festival 2001
Silver Award
Cyberjaya Digital Video Competition 2003
A MOMENT OF LOVE
Special Mention Award
Oberhausen International Short film 2006
Best Asean Feature and FIPRESCI Award
Bangkok International Film Festival 2005
Orbit Mention Award
Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film 2006
Best Asean Feature
Bangkok International Film Festival 2007
Best New Director, Best Editing Award
Malaysia Film Festival 2009
Silver Digital Award
Hong Kong International Film Festival 2009
Grand Jury Award
Cinemanila International Film Festival 2012
Director of the Year
Gold Award Film & TV Directions
GONG Singapore Creative Circle Awards 2015
Cannes Silver Lion Award
Cannes Lion 2016
Best Digital Feature Film
Malaysia Digital Film Awards 2017
Best Original Score
Malaysia Film Festival 2019
Best Fight Choreography-Runner Up
Action on Film International Film Festival 2019
FILMOGRAPHY
Feature Films
2022, Rasuk
2019, Two Sisters
2019, Kill-Fist
2016, KL24: Zombies
2012, If It's Not Now, Then When?
2011, The Collector
2010. Claypot Curry Killers
2010 Help! My Girlfriend is a Vampire
2009, Call If You Need Me
2010, Here Got Ghost!
2008, Histeria
2007, Waiting for Love
2007, Bernafas Dalam Lumpur
2007, Things We Do When We Fall in Love Again
2006, Before We Fall in Love Again
2004, The Beautiful Washing Machine
2002, Room to Let
2001, Ah Beng Returns
2001, Snipers
Series
2022, Histeria
Animations
2022, Dear Norma Jeane
2022, Hell Above
Theater
2022, Hurt / Dance
2016, Nyonya Memoir / Musical
2014, Tales from River Wisdom / Dance Drama
2014, 2 Minutes Solo / Dance
2013, Kopi Susu / Musical
2010, On Anxiety / Dance Drama
2007, Betrayal / Drama
2003, Changi / Drama
2001, Dumb Waiter / Drama
Short Films
2023, Hurt Part 2
2023, Hurt Part 1
2022, Overtime 3
2021, Light 2020
2020. Freedom
2020, Isolation
2020, I'm Just a Ghost, and That's OK
2019, Overtime 2
2019, Family Ties
2019, See You Next Century
2018, The Hit
2018, Last Year in Johor
2018, Reunion Gift
2017, The Art of Crying
2017, Overtime
2017, Love to the End
2017, A Moment of Love
2016, She
2016, My Girlfriend is a Cannibal
2015, Café Lumiere
2015, Last Day School
2015, Tuition
2015, Date Me Next Time Please
2014, Passing Lives
2014, All for Love
2014, The Woman Upstairs
2014, Second Life
2014, The Girl from Tomorrow
2013, Paper Crane Love
2012, The Last Supper
2012, The Family Portrait
2009, Gerhana
2007, Wall
2005, Sometimes Love is Beautiful
2005, Bernafas Dalam Lumpur
2005, A Moment of Love
2004, Goodbye to Love
2003, Good-bye
2003, Teatime with John
2002, Emu Kwan's Tragic Breakfast
2001, Beautiful Man
2000, Sunflowers
1999, Survivor
1999, Think Positive!
1999, Man From Thailand
1999, Ah Yu's Story
JURY & SPEAKER
Jury member for the Singapore International Film Festival 2002
Invited speaker for the 1st Sarawak Millenium Film Festival 2002
Invited speaker for the 1st The Overseas Chinese Film festival 2002 (Singapore)
1st Berlinale Talent Campus 2003 (Talent participant)
Jury member of the 1st Astro TryCam Short Film Festival 2003
Participant of ASEF Script Lab workshop in CINEMANILA 2003
4th Workshop-Seminar Produire au Sud 2003 Nantes - France
Jury member of the 17th KL Film Festival (Short Films Category) 2004
Jury member of the BMW Short Film Competition 2006
Jury member of the Busan International Short Film Festival 2006
Head of Jury, KL48 Hours Film Project 2011
Head of Jury, NETPAC Award, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2011
Jury member, NETPAC Award Korean Films, BUSAN 2012
Jury member, Youth Creative PSA Short Film Competition 2011
Jury member, TROPFEST SEA 2011
Speaker, TEDxKL 2015
Guinness Malaysia Creative Council 2015
Judge for the DiGi WWWOW 2015 Content Category
Speaker, Future of Cinema Distribution
Singapore International Film Festival 2015
Judges Viddsee Juree Indonesia 2016
Judges Kaki Lima Short Film Competition 2016
Judges Petron Vision Award 2018
INTERVIEWS
Merentas Awan: Kwang Tung Dance Company releases monthly photo and videography series to raise funds
9 September 2020 [Read...]
The 15 Best Asian Horror / Exploitation Movies of 2019
24 October 2019 [Read...]
Telling a tale of Two Sisters
04 April 2019 [Read...]
FIRST LOOK: Meet The Kung Fu Killers In James Lee’s KILL-FIST
08 July 2018 [Read...]
SECOND LIFE: A Dialogue With Malaysian Filmmaker James Lee
08 July 2018 [Read...]
The creativity behind "KL24: Zombies"
08 January 2017 [Read...]
James Lee attempts to re-define film-making through smartphones!
27 July 2017 [Read...]
李添興有信心 拍出好萊塢水準
16 February 2017 [Read...]
Surviving Monsters
20 January 2017 [Read...]
Paving the Way for Young Filmmakers
19 May 2016 [Read...]
Short Film Isn’t Just a Calling Card, but a Snapshot to Your Talent
25 April 2016 [Read...]
James Lee wins 7 Awards in Singapore
18 November 2015 [Read...]
FIVE EASY PIECES: JAMES LEE AND 3 DOORS OF HORRORS
11 November 2015 [Read...]
7 Things About The Very Prolific Malaysian Filmmaker James Lee
13 Dec 2014 [Read...]
Lights, Camera, And Action: When Life Imitates Art
23 May 2014 [Read...]
Crazy Filmmaker James Lee, And His Serious Thoughts On How
To Survive In The Film Industry
2014 [Read...]
Malaysia Filmmaker's "3 Doors of Horror 2014" Premieres
2014 [Read...]
James Lee Talks "Claypot"
18 October 2013 [Read...]
Hollywood Reporter: Malaysian Filmmaker James Lee Launches
YouTube Omnibus '3 Doors of Horrors'
8 August 2013 [Read...]
The Edge: Filmmaker with a difference
23 October 2012 [Read...]
Busan 2012: Director James Lee on His Latest Project, 'If It’s Not Now Then When?'
06 October 2012 [Read...]
James Lee: Of Ghosts & Gangsters in 33rd HKIFF
07 December 2009 [Read...]
Identity & Cinema: James Lee & the New Voice of Malaysian Cinema
02 August 2007 [Read...]
Screen Daily: Malaysia's James Lee lines up Waiting, Hysteria
24 July 2007 [Read...]
Discussion With James Lee On The DV Film Making In Malaysia
25 May 2007 [Read...]
我和大馬導演4～《李添興 我拍故我在》準
19 May 2007 [Read...]
Indie film-maker James Lee gets Special Focus at Film Festival
09 April 2007 [Read...]