Hong Kong producer Nansun Shi, whose credits include John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow, Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s Infernal Affairs and multiple films with Tsui Hark, has died aged 75.
Film Workshop, the iconic Hong Kong production house she co-founded with director-producer Tsui Hark, sent out this statement:
“We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Ms. Nansun Shi, who died peacefully at Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital on Monday, 13 July 2026, at 20:51. She was 75.
Ms. Shi had been in declining health since 2022 due to complications affecting her immune system. In recent months, recurrent infections resulted in multiple organ dysfunction. She was surrounded by her family and loved ones in her final moments.
Details regarding memorial and funeral arrangements will be announced in due course.”
One of the leading producers of Hong Kong cinema’s golden era in the 1980s, Shi was also one of the architects of its revival in the early 2000s, spearheading the first film in the Infernal Affairs trilogy, which was remade by Martin Scorsese as The Departed. Her early credits include such seminal Hong Kong movies as Woo’s A Better Tomorrow and The Killer and Tsui’s Once Upon A Time In China. Most recently she produced Tsui’s 2025 Lunar New Year hit Legend Of The Condor Heroes: The Gallants.
Born in Hong Kong and educated there and in the UK, Shi started her career working for broadcasters TVB and Rediffusion Television in the mid-1970s before becoming one of the founding members of the Cinema City production collective alongside Raymond Wong, Karl Maka and Dean Shek in 1981. Affectionately known as “Housekeeper”, Shi quickly established her strengths in development strategy, production management and international distribution. Her credits during this time included classic Hong Kong comedies Till Death Do We Scare (1982), Aces Go Places II (1983), The Trail (1983) and Merry Christmas (1984).
In 1984, Shi launched Film Workshop with Tsui Hark, through which she produced Tsui’s Shanghai Blues and Once Upon A Time In China series, along with Woo’s A Better Tomorrow, one of the major classics of Hong Kong action cinema, starring Chow Yun-fat and produced with Tsui.
Renowned as a trailblazer and innovator in the Hong Kong film industry, Shi was one of the first local producers to set up international distribution networks as well as one of the first to shoot in mainland China when the two film industries had little contact with each other.
In 2002, Peter Lam invited her to join Media Asia Group as Vice President, where she produced the first film in the Infernal Affairs trilogy, starring Andy Lau and Tony Leung Chiu-wai. Shi also worked with Beijing-based Bona Film Group on films including the Overheard series, The Great Magician and Venice award-winning film A Simple Life. From 2007, she also headed up international sales agency Distribution Workshop, backed by Bona Film Group and co-founded with Jeffrey Chan.
While working with other companies, Shi kept Film Workshop running as a separate entity, producing several films directed by Tsui over the years, including the Detective Dee series, Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate, Seven Swords and The Legend Of Zu. Shi and Tsui were married between 1996 and 2014.
A member of the main competition jury at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, Shi was honored by France’s Ministry of Culture which made her an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2013.
Among the many other honors received, Shi was presented with Locarno Film Festival’s Premio Raimondo Rezzonico for Best Independent Producer in 2014; the Golden Mulberry Life Achievement Award from Udine Far East Film Festival in 2015; the Berlinale Camera Award in 2017; the International Contribution to Chinese Cinema Award at Pingyao International Film Festival in 2019; and the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2025.
Tributes are starting to come in, and we will update this story regularly as we receive them…
