Jun Li (; born 3 August 1991) is a Hong Kong filmmaker and critic. Li made his feature film debut with Tracey in 2018. He won the Golden Horse Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 58th Golden Horse Awards in November 2021 for his second film Drifting. In November 2025, he won the Golden Horse Award for Best Director for his third film Queerpanorama. He is also a member of the Hong Kong Film Critics Society.

Early life Li was born in London and grew up in Hong Kong. He studied journalism and communications at Chinese University of Hong Kong and worked as a television reporter. He later obtained his Master of Philosophy in gender studies at the University of Cambridge. After completing his studies, he returned to Hong Kong and joined the University of Hong Kong as a research assistant.

Career Li began making short films as a research assistant at the University of Hong Kong. He and his short film Liu Yang He (2017) won the Fresh Wave Award and Best Director at the 11th Fresh Wave International Short Film Festival.

Li made his feature film debut with Tracey in 2018 about a married trans woman transitioning in her 50s. Li was brought on later in pre-production, after another director quit the project and actors Philip Keung and River Huang have been cast. He was nominated at the 38th Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Screenplay (alongside Shu Kei and Erica Li) and Best New Director. Li has not received a Hong Kong government subsidy (such as the First Feature Film Initiative) for all his directorial feature productions. He cited the lack of perceived commercial viability of LGBT films as a barrier to winning such initiatives.

His second film Drifting (2021) is about homelessness and addiction in Sham Shui Po, Kowloon. It competed at the International Film Festival Rotterdam Big Screen Competition. The film was nominated for 12 awards at the 58th Golden Horse Awards, making it the most nominated film from that year. He was himself nominated Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay, winning the latter.

Li's third film Queerpanorama (2025) features a gay protagonist and is shot in black and white. He won Best Director at the 62nd Golden Horse Awards. The film was also nominated for a Golden Horse Award for Best Narrative Feature. According to the judging panel, A Foggy Tale narrowly beat Queerpanorama in an 8–7 vote. He openly criticised Israel for its war crimes in Gaza during his film premiere at the 2025 Berlinale. The incident was widely cited as an example of German censorship against pro-palestinian speech in the next edition.

His play In a Perfect World tells a multi-generational story of a family living in an apartment in Manhattan Chinatown throughout 3 different eras. It opened at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in November 2025, for which Li won Best Script and Best Play with On and On Theatre Workshop at the 34th Hong Kong Drama Awards.

Style and influences Li cites Ken Loach, Spike Lee, Stanley Kwan, Hong Sang Soo, and Lou Ye as his influences.

Personal life Li is gay and his partner is an actor in two of his films.

Filmography

Directing, Writing, Editing, Producing +YearTitleDirectorScreenwriterEditorProducerNotes2017Liu Yang HeShort film2018My WorldShort filmTracey2021DriftingPlain SailingShort film2023Fly Me to the Moon 2025 Queerpanorama

Acting +YearTitleRoleNotes2018I Miss You When I See YouKevin

Awards and accolades +YearAwardCategoryWorkResultNotes 2018 55th Golden Horse Awards Best Live Action Short FilmMy World2019 24th IFVA Awards Open Category Silver38th Hong Kong Film AwardsBest ScreenplayTraceyalongside Shu Kei and Erica LiBest New Director202158th Golden Horse AwardsGolden Horse Award for Best Feature FilmDriftingGolden Horse Award for Best DirectorGolden Horse Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayGolden Horse Award for Best Film Editingalongside Heiward Mak 2022 27th IFVA Awards Open Category Plain Sailing director: Sasha Chuk202562nd Golden Horse AwardsGolden Horse Award for Best Feature FilmQueerpanoramaGolden Horse Award for Best Director Golden Horse Award for Best Original Screenplay202634th Hong Kong Drama AwardsBest ProductionIn A Perfect WorldBest Script

See also

Heiward Mak, Hong Kong director, co-editor on Drifting (2021)

References