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After reviewing the achievements in television dramas in celebration of the 30-year reform and opening up and the 50-year of countrys first television drama, the China Association of TV Artists named the representative playwrights, directors and producers. The names were announced on December 25, 2008. Han Gang, a productive director of television dramas, was honored in the final list.

Han Gang is a highly prolific director. His major works include quite a few blockbusters over the past ten plus years, though these high-profile dramas depict different themes and present different styles.

Upon his graduation from Beijing Film Academy in 1984, he became a teacher at his alma mater and began his directing career. With “Jackpot”, his 30-minute short film debut, he was named the best director at the 7th Odense International Film Festival in Denmark. He rose to national fame overnight by “Minister Liu the Hunchback”, which broke the rigid formula of historical dramas and introduced humor and fictitious elements into history. It was popular with the audiences from various social strata and cultural backgrounds.

Another of Han Gangs national successes was “How the Steel Was Tempered”, a television adaptation of the namesake novel by Nikolai Alexeevich Ostrovsky (1904-1936), a Soviet socialist realist writer. The novel was very popular in the early decades of the Peoples Republic. It was the first Chinese television drama production completely shot outside China and all the actors were foreigners. Han was named the best director at the 18th Golden Eagle Awards and the 20th Flying-Goddess Awards, two top national events for television works. Altogether, the adaptation won seven awards at the two major awards. Han became known among his peers as the director of gold awards.

If “Minister Liu the Hunchback” is humorous, “Taiwan in 1895” relates the heroic resistance of the Taiwan people against Japanese occupation. The series looks into the history of the island and highlights the theme of patriotism.

As a matter of fact, Han Gang is delightfully versatile.“My Dad and My Mom” and “The 12 Months of the Farmers” are comedies focused on ordinary peoples everyday life. The former describes a family, touching upon complicated relations and embracing subjects of ethics and morality. The latter is a sitcom which stands out in innovation in style, cinematography, rhythm and casting.

Han Gang owes his success to his endeavor to focus on grass-roots people and their ordinary life. He wants to appeal to the largest audience crowds. Not all of his television dramas are about ordinary people, but he can always find concerns that people take to heart.

Han takes his social responsibility very seriously. His guiding principle is that he wants to make the best dramas and he would spare no efforts to make the best happen. He sleeps four or five hours a day when he starts a production. He never complains and he works very hard. He knows that he could easily make a million bucks if he allowed himself to be lax in his directing.But he never wants to make money that way.

And he never employs publicists to promote his television dramas. Some production teams hire publicists and start promotion by making sensational news and waves even before shooting starts. Han focuses on his work. His concentration on art and quality always pays off. “The Last Prince”, screened around the Spring Festival of 2008, caught the attention of the national audiences. “Taiwan in 1895” was first screened in November, 2008 without much promotion before it was screened. But soon it became a huge hit. At a seminar after the success of the drama, some critics said that it was the best drama that filled a gap in movies and television dramas that look back into history.

At present, Han Gang is directing a television series that is meant to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Peoples Republic of China. □