Ann Hui to Receive Busan's 2026 Camellia Award, Presented with Chanel
Ann Hui, the Hong Kong director whose career spans nearly five decades and 27 features, will receive the 2026 Camellia Award at the Busan International Film Festival's opening ceremony on 6 October at the Busan Cinema Center (The Hollywood Reporter).
The award, presented in partnership with Chanel, honours filmmakers who have advanced the standing of women in the industry. It was established in 2024 and takes its name from a flower that is both Busan's civic emblem and a favourite of Gabrielle Chanel. Korean production designer Ryu Seong-hie was the inaugural recipient; Taiwanese actress and filmmaker Sylvia Chang received it the following year. Hui is the third.
Now 79, Hui made her debut in 1979 with The Secret and is regarded as a pioneer of the Hong Kong New Wave — the late-1970s movement that brought a modern, socially engaged sensibility to a commercial film industry. She has directed 27 features and two feature-length documentaries across a career that has moved between genre fare, literary adaptation and intimate domestic drama.
Her shelf of trophies is crowded. She has won best director at the Hong Kong Film Awards six times, more than any filmmaker in the ceremony's history, and three times at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards. Two of her films, Summer Snow (1995) and A Simple Life (2011), each swept best film, director, actor and actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards — a clean sweep of the four major categories.
In 2020, Hui became the first female director to receive the Venice Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, sharing the honour with actress Tilda Swinton. Busan itself has recognised her before: the festival named her Asian Filmmaker of the Year in 2014.
Hui is not the only honouree headed to the 31st edition of the festival, which runs 6–15 October. Michelle Yeoh will receive the 2026 Asian Filmmaker of the Year award, and Pachinko star Kim Minha will host the opening ceremony. The festival unveiled its official poster on 7 August.
What makes the Camellia Award stand out is how quickly it has built a meaningful lineage. Three recipients in, it has already recognised a production designer, an actor-director and now one of Asia's most decorated auteurs — a cross-section that mirrors how women's contributions to cinema span every craft, not just the director's chair.
For Hui, who has spent 47 years turning out films at a steady, working filmmaker's pace, the recognition lands as a capstone rather than a discovery. The audience at the Busan Cinema Center will know exactly who is walking up to accept it.
