Shu Kei, whose real name is Kenneth Ip, was born in Hong Kong in 1956 and started writing film criticism while still in secondary school. After graduating from University of Hong Kong, majoring in English, he joined Commercial Television as a scriptwriter. After that station went out of business, Shu started working for Golden Harvest as scriptwriter and assistant director. He also founded Film Biweekly Magazine (later renamed City Entertainment) and acted as chief editor. Shu made his directorial debut in 1981 with Sealed with a Kiss, about a romance between two mentally handicapped youngsters. The film was marked by a refreshing departure from the glut of police dramas, horror films and black-magic movies that were flooding the market. Between 1981 and 1984, Shu was a programmer for the Hong Kong International Film Festival and, from 1984 to 1986, promotion manager for D & B Films. He directed his second feature, Soul, in 1986, which won the Best Cinematography prize at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Chris Doyle. In 1990, he directed the documentary Sunless Days for the Japanese television station NHK, which was awarded the OCIC Award at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival and the Jury Award at the Rimini Film Festival in Italy. His other works include Hu-Du-Men (1996), which won Best Actress awards for star Josephine Siao at several film festivals, including the 41st Asia Pacific Film Festival, the 33rd Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan and the 2nd Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards. Shu became a director through writing criticism. While film schooleducated directors like Ann Hui and Tsui Hark are representative of the first generation of young filmmakers who took Hong Kong cinema on a new direction, Shu Kei is considered a key member of the second generation. In addition to directing, Shu also took up distribution, founding Shu Kei’s Creative Workshop, which had promoted and distributed over 200 art films and non-mainstream works, such as Blue Kite (1993), directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang; Farewell, My Concubine (1993), directed by Chen Kaige; Chungking Express and Ashes of Time, both directed by Wong Kar-wai. He had also produced a number of films, including Beijing Bastards (1993), directed by Zhang Yuan; Postman (1995), directed by He Jianjun; and First Love Unlimited (1997), directed by Joe Ma. In 1997, Shu opened P.O.V. Bookstore, a retailer devoted to film. He had been an Artist in Residence at Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Shaw College, as well as guest lecturer at the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Hong Kong. In 2002, he worked as senior lecturer at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, later becoming dean of School of Film and Television. He is also the author and editor of various books, including Hong Kong Films of 1994 (editor); Hong Kong Films of 1995 (editor); Song of the Big Road, The Memoir of Sun Yu; A Comparative Study of Cantonese and Mandarin Films in Post-War Hong Kong--the Films of Zhu Shilin and Chun Kim; A Retrospective of 1960s Cantonese Cinema (editor); Ann Hui’s Vietnam Trilogy Screenplays (writer and editor) and Chinese Beauties (novel). His latest directorial work is The Dream, a segment of the omnibus film Beautiful 2014 (2014), adapted from a short story by author-director Evan Yang (Yi Wen).
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Biography from TMDB.
- April 15, 1956 (70)
- Hong Kong, British Crown Colony
- Writer, director, producer and actor, also editor
- 4 on MovieCove · 33 credits in all
What are Kei Shu's films like?
Across their 5 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Self.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 5
A split, not a type: Light 3 · Serious 0 · Dark 2
A split, not a type: Grounded 3 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 2
A split, not a type: Gentle 3 · Charged 1 · Intense 1
Steady 5 · Shifting 0 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0
Slow burn 5 · Even-paced 0 · Relentless 0
Casual 0 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 2
A split, not a type: Easy watch 2 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 2
Resolved 4 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet1
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous2
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Kei Shu's films?
As of October 24, 2026, none of Kei Shu's 4 MovieCove titles is streaming on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Kei Shu's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted.
Filmography
33 credits, 4 with a MovieCove page; 3 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Tracey (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Umbrella Diaries: The First Umbrella (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
The Cow Caretaker (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Beautiful 2014 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Thin Dream Bay (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
For Love We Can (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Boundless(2013)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
A Complicated Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
When Night Falls (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
The True Story Of Ah Poon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Landscape On the Other Side: Hong Kong Cinematographer Bill Wong (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Coffee or Tea (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Someone's Running (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Ten Years (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
F***/Off (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1998)
Made in Hong Kong (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)
First Love Unlimited (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)
Love: Amoeba Style (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)
A Queer Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)
Temptress Moon(1996)
Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films
Stage Door(1996)
Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all films
Ashes of Time(1994)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
Beijing Bastards (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1993)
Sunless Days (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1990)
Soul (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1986)
The Island (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1985)
Carry On Doctors and Nurses (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1985)
Ah Ying (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1983)
Sealed with a Kiss (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1981)
The Happenings (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1980)
Below the Lion Rock: The Boy from Vietnam (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1978)
Seventeen: 1977 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1977)
Social Worker: The Runaway Girl (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1976)
Career shape
A full career of 33 titles from 1976 to 2018.
How do Kei Shu's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 76th percentile, the median of all 4; across their 5 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 78th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 50th to 74th2
Shape of the crowd
None of their 4 titles divides audiences: 4 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Crowd Pleaser4
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Kei Shu work with?
People who share at least 2 of Kei Shu's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Zhangke Jia shares the most, 2.
Actors
- Zhangke JiaShared titles: Guang yin de gu shi: Tai wan xin dian ying (2014), Boundless (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Zhangke Jia
- David WuShared titles: Stage Door (1996), Temptress Moon (1996)See all 2 shared titles with David Wu
- Leslie CheungShared titles: Temptress Moon (1996), Ashes of Time (1994)See all 2 shared titles with Leslie Cheung
Cinematographers and editors
- Chi-Leung KwongShared titles: Stage Door (1996), Ashes of Time (1994)See all 2 shared titles with Chi-Leung Kwong
- Christopher DoyleShared titles: Temptress Moon (1996), Ashes of Time (1994)See all 2 shared titles with Christopher Doyle
