Sylvia Chang: Three-time Golden Horse Best Actress and Director of Sixteen Works
Sylvia Chang (張艾嘉) was born in 1953. She became a radio DJ at age sixteen, a singer and host at seventeen, and made her film debut at nineteen. She has won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress three times—in 1981, 1986, and 2022—with a forty-one-year gap between her second and third wins. During this time, she also directed sixteen works, ranging from her directorial debut One Moment in Time (某年某月某一天) in 1981 to There Is She (世間有她) in 2022.1
Chronology
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1953 | Born on July 21; ancestral home is Wutai, Shanxi. The article text lists her birthplace as No. 1, Lane 191, Gonghe Road, Chiayi City, while the info box lists Shetu Xincun, Dalin Township, Chiayi County.1 |
| 1955 | Her father, Major Chang Wen-chuang (張文莊), died when his C-47 aircraft crashed into a mountain in Hsinchu; he was thirty-one and she was one.1 |
| Approx. age 12 | Moved to Kowloon City, Hong Kong; attended the primary school division of New Law College, then studied in New York.1 |
| Approx. age 15 | Returned to Taiwan; attended Sacred Heart Girls' High School and the American School in Taipei.1 |
| Approx. age 16–17 | Became a radio DJ at 16; worked as a singer and host at 17.1 |
| 1972 | Debut film Flying Tiger (飛虎小霸王) (listed as 1973 in some records, showing inconsistency in Wikipedia entries).1 |
| 1976 | Won Best Supporting Actress at the 13th Golden Horse Awards for Blue Sky (碧雲天).1 |
| 1981 | Won Best Actress at the 18th Golden Horse Awards for My Grandpa (我的爺爺); also directed her first film, One Moment in Time.1 |
| 1983 | Acted in A Day on the Beach (海灘的一天) as Jia-li.1 |
| 1986 | Wrote, directed, and starred in Love Education (最愛), winning Best Actress at the 23rd Golden Horse Awards; the film was also nominated for Best Feature Film, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.1 |
| 1987 | Directed Yellow Story (黃色故事).1 |
| 1992 | Released the album The Price of Love (愛的代價), written and composed by Jonathan Lee (李宗盛) and released by Rock Records.2 |
| 1995 | Directed Young Girl, Little Fisherman (少女小漁), nominated for Best Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay at the 32nd Golden Horse Awards.1 |
| 2001 | Nominated for Best Actress at the 38th Golden Horse Awards for Forever in Love (地久天長); also won Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Bauhinia Awards.1 |
| 2004 | Directed 20 30 40, nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.1 |
| 2014–2018 | Served as Chairperson of the Executive Committee for the 6th Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival.1 |
| 2017 | Bulbul Propeller (相愛相親) nominated for Best Actress, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Feature Film at the 54th Golden Horse Awards.1 |
| 2018 | Won Best Actress at the Asian Film Awards for Bulbul Propeller; also received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the same ceremony.1 |
| 2021 | Received the 22nd National Cultural Award.1 |
| 2022 | Won her third Golden Horse Award for Best Actress for Love in the Night (燈火闌珊); directed There Is She.1 |
| 2024 | Nominated for Best Actress at the 61st Golden Horse Awards for Daughter's Daughter (女兒的女兒).1 |
First a Singer and Host, Then an Actor
Her career did not begin on a film set. According to Wikipedia, she was a radio DJ at 16 and a singer/host at 17; her first film, Flying Tiger, did not arrive until 1972.1 Her filmography in the 1970s was extensive, including Plum Blossom (梅花), Blue Sky (碧雲天), and The Eighty Heroes (八百壯士) in 1976. Notably, Blue Sky earned her her first Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actress.1
Her musical career has remained continuous. Her discography includes albums such as Childhood (童年), Perhaps (也許), Busy and Blind (忙與盲), Do You Love Me? (你愛我嗎), and The Price of Love (愛的代價). The latter was released by Rock Records in 1992, with lyrics and composition by Jonathan Lee; the earliest recorded version is credited to Chang. This song was later covered by Jonathan Lee in his 1994 album Jonathan Lee's Music Journey: Not Letting Go and by Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) in her 2000 album. The song also served as the theme for the film Three Summers (三個夏天).2
1981 and 1986: Two Best Actress Wins, Two Different Roles
In 1981, she won Best Actress at the 18th Golden Horse Awards for her role as Xu Yi-ting in My Grandpa. That same year, she directed her first film, One Moment in Time.1 The entry also notes that she took over to complete this film after Tu Chung-hsun (屠忠訓) left it unfinished in 1979, though the work is officially dated 1981, creating a discrepancy in the years.1
Her 1986 achievement with Love Education was more comprehensive: she played the role of Bai Yun while also serving as screenwriter and director. The film was nominated for Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Original Film Song at the 23rd Golden Horse Awards, and she won Best Actress.1
Directorial Works and Golden Horse Nominations
She has sixteen credited directorial works: One Moment in Time (1981), Love Education (1986), Yellow Story (1987), Sasha Jiajia Stands Up (莎莎嘉嘉站起來, 1991), Dreaming of the Moment (夢醒時分, 1992), New Coexistence (新同居時代, 1994), Young Girl, Little Fisherman (1995), Not Going Home Today (今天不回家, 1996), Heartbeat (心動, 1999), Wanting to Fly (想飛, 2002), 20 30 40 (2004), A Good Father (一個好爸爸, 2008), the segment "Twilight of the Gods" in 10+10 (2011), Nian Nian (念念, 2015), Bulbul Propeller (2017), and There Is She (2022).1
Her Golden Horse records are twofold. As a director or screenwriter, she received nominations for Love Education, Young Girl, Little Fisherman, Not Going Home Today, and Heartbeat (Best Feature Film); she was nominated for Best Director for A Good Father in 2008, and for both Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Bulbul Propeller in 2017. As an actress, she has received twelve nominations or awards between 1976 and 2024, including three wins for Best Actress and one win for Best Supporting Actress.1
She has also won screenwriting awards in Hong Kong: Best Screenwriter at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Heartbeat (2000) and Bulbul Propeller (2018); Best Screenwriter at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards for Nian Nian (2016); and Best Director at the same society for Bulbul Propeller (2018).1
2022: The Third Best Actress Win
In 2022, she won her third Golden Horse Award for Best Actress for Love in the Night, thirty-six years after her second win in 1986.1 Subsequently, in 2024, she was nominated for Best Actress at the 61st Golden Horse Awards for Daughter's Daughter. In 2025, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Far East Film Festival and the Camellia Award at the Busan International Film Festival.1
She is also an essayist, having published Lightly Written (輕描淡寫, 2015) and Daughter (女兒, 2024).1
Further Reading: Sylvia Chang — Wikipedia | Edward Yang (楊德昌)
References
- Wikipedia: Sylvia Chang — This article's biography, filmography, directorial works, and award records for the Golden Horse Awards, Hong Kong Film Awards, and Asian Film Awards are organized based on this entry (accessed 2026-10-23). The entry contains inconsistencies regarding her birthplace, debut film, and the year of her first directorial work; these are presented as they appear.↩234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132
- Wikipedia: The Price of Love — Released by Rock Records in 1992, written and composed by Jonathan Lee. The earliest recorded version is credited to Sylvia Chang; it was also covered by Jonathan Lee (1994) and Gigi Leung (2000), and serves as the theme song for the film Three Summers.↩2