Camera

Nelson Yu Lik-wai

Born August 12, 1966 · Hong Kong, British Crown Colony [now China] (age 60)

Yu Lik-wai (simplified Chinese: 余力为; traditional Chinese: 余力爲; pinyin: Yú Lìwéi; Jyutping: Yu4 Lik6 Wai4; born 12 August 1966), sometimes credited as Nelson Yu, is a Hong Kong cinematographer, film director, and occasional film producer. Born in Hong Kong, Yu Lik-wai was educated at Belgium's INSAS (Institut National Superieur des Arts de Spectacle) where he graduated with a degree in cinematograp…

Known For

In the Mood for Love

In the Mood for Love · 2000

In the Mood for Love

MovieDramaRomance

In 1960s Hong Kong, two neighbors form an intimate bond after making a discovery about their spouses in this visually stunning tale of unrequited love.

A Touch of Sin

A Touch of Sin · 2013

MovieCrimeDrama

Four people in different provinces are driven to violent ends: An angry miner is enraged by corruption in his village. A migrant discovers the possibilities of owning a firearm. A receptionist is pushed beyond her limits by an abusive client. A young factory worker goes from one job to the next.

Still Life

Still Life · 2006

MovieDramaRomance

A town in Fengjie county is gradually being demolished and flooded to make way for the Three Gorges Dam. A man and woman visit the town to locate their estranged spouses, and become witness to the societal changes.

Ash Is Purest White

Ash Is Purest White · 2018

Ash Is Purest White

MovieCrimeRomance

Set in China's underworld, this tale of love and betrayal follows a dancer who fired a gun to protect her mobster boyfriend during a fight. On release from prison 5 years later, she sets out to find him.

Dream Home

Dream Home · 2010

A woman will go to whatever lengths necessary to obtain her dream home with a view of the sea. This includes driving down the property value and decreasing the occupancy rate by killing her potential neighbors.

Getting Home

Getting Home · 2007

MovieDramaComedy

A black comedy about a farmer who tries to bring home the body of his friend, who died far from their town.

Mountains May Depart

Mountains May Depart · 2015

Mountains May Depart

MovieDramaRomance

The life of Tao, and those close to her, is explored in three different time periods: 1999, 2014, and 2025.

Caught by the Tides

Caught by the Tides · 2024

Caught by the Tides

Years after her boyfriend left her for the big city and promised to bring her there after he’s settled down, a Chinese woman sets out on a journey to be reunited with him.

Filmography

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In the Mood for Love

In the Mood for Love · 2000

In the Mood for Love

MovieDramaRomance

In 1960s Hong Kong, two neighbors form an intimate bond after making a discovery about their spouses in this visually stunning tale of unrequited love.

Second Unit Director of Photography

A Touch of Sin

A Touch of Sin · 2013

MovieCrimeDrama

Four people in different provinces are driven to violent ends: An angry miner is enraged by corruption in his village. A migrant discovers the possibilities of owning a firearm. A receptionist is pushed beyond her limits by an abusive client. A young factory worker goes from one job to the next.

Director of Photography

Still Life

Still Life · 2006

MovieDramaRomance

A town in Fengjie county is gradually being demolished and flooded to make way for the Three Gorges Dam. A man and woman visit the town to locate their estranged spouses, and become witness to the societal changes.

Director of Photography

Ash Is Purest White

Ash Is Purest White · 2018

Ash Is Purest White

MovieCrimeRomance

Set in China's underworld, this tale of love and betrayal follows a dancer who fired a gun to protect her mobster boyfriend during a fight. On release from prison 5 years later, she sets out to find him.

Creative Consultant

Dream Home

Dream Home · 2010

A woman will go to whatever lengths necessary to obtain her dream home with a view of the sea. This includes driving down the property value and decreasing the occupancy rate by killing her potential neighbors.

Director of Photography

Getting Home

Getting Home · 2007

MovieDramaComedy

A black comedy about a farmer who tries to bring home the body of his friend, who died far from their town.

Director of Photography

Mountains May Depart

Mountains May Depart · 2015

Mountains May Depart

MovieDramaRomance

The life of Tao, and those close to her, is explored in three different time periods: 1999, 2014, and 2025.

Director of Photography

Caught by the Tides

Caught by the Tides · 2024

Caught by the Tides

Years after her boyfriend left her for the big city and promised to bring her there after he’s settled down, a Chinese woman sets out on a journey to be reunited with him.

Co-Producer

A Simple Life

A Simple Life · 2012

After suffering a stroke, an altruistic maid announces that she wants to quit her job and move into an old people's home.

Director of Photography

Pickpocket

Pickpocket · 1997

A small town pickpocket whose friends have moved on to higher trades finds himself bitter and unable to adapt.

Director of Photography

Venice 70: Future Reloaded

Venice 70: Future Reloaded · 2013

Venice 70: Future Reloaded

MovieDramaDocumentary

Made for the Venice Film Festival's 70th anniversary, seventy filmmakers made a short film between 60 and 90 seconds long on their interpretation of the future of cinema.

Director of Photography

Our Time Will Come

Our Time Will Come · 2017

Our Time Will Come

MovieDramaHistory

In Japanese-occupied Hong Kong, a school teacher and her would-be-fiancé link up with Chinese guerrilla fighters, forging their own path to freedom.

Director of Photography

The World

The World · 2004

At Beijing World Park, a bizarre cross-pollination of Las Vegas and Epcot Center where visitors can interact with famous international monuments without ever leaving the city’s suburbs, a security guard betrays his dancer girlfriend by pursuing another woman.

Director of Photography

Love and Bruises

Love and Bruises · 2011

Love and Bruises

MovieDramaRomance

Hua, a woman in her late twenties, goes against her family to become a teacher in Paris. She falls in love with men who physically abuse her. Will she ever find her true love?

Director of Photography

Platform

Platform · 2001

MovieDramaHistory

China’s rapid changes from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, as seen through the lives of four performers in a theater troupe.

Director of Photography

Ordinary Heroes

Ordinary Heroes · 1999

Ordinary Heroes

Ordinary Heroes narrates the life stories of an advocate, a prostitute, a social worker, and a priest during Hong Kong’s social movements of the 1970s and 1980s. The film is based on true events.

Director of Photography

Unknown Pleasures

Unknown Pleasures · 2002

Unknown Pleasures

MovieComedyDrama

Two disaffected, unemployed Chinese youth drift through life on the streets of their industrial town, their paths crossing with that of a local young singer and dancer working for a liquor company as a spokesmodel.

Director of Photography

Torino Shadow

Torino Shadow · 2026

A woman travels from southern China to Turin, Italy, to see her husband. But an unexpected departure leaves her to find herself again, and to find cinema.

Director of Photography

Dance Me to the End of Love

Dance Me to the End of Love · 2004

Dance Me to the End of Love

MovieRomanceScience Fiction

Plastic city suffers from the big chill. The extreme weather conditions prohibits and human existence on the ground surface. An hostel is under this deserted landscape. A doorkeeper of the hostel Kirin is an orphan and nobody knows exactly where he is from. People named him Kirin simply because he earns his life by collecting emptied Kirin beer cans. One day he meets a woman nomad Lanian.

Director of Photography

Plastic City

Plastic City · 2009

MovieActionThriller

Yuda, a Chinese immigrant, and his adopted son Kirin, who he saved being eaten by a tiger in the jungle, stand at the head of a massive pirated goods operation that brings in both money and influence. But their empire is crumbling, as corrupt politicians and rival gangs seek to end their power in the city. Yuda is soon got arrested and his dedicated son tries his best to save not just the family business, but his father's reputation.

Director

I Wish I Knew

I Wish I Knew · 2010

MovieDocumentaryHistory

Focuses on the people, their stories and architecture spanning from the mid-1800s, when Shanghai was opened as a trading port, to the present day.

Director of Photography

Heaven and Hell

Heaven and Hell · 2025

Heaven and Hell

MovieCrimeDrama

The movie tells the story of a restaurant owner (played by Duan Yihong) who's chased after the murderer of his son for seven years. On the way, he met a young man (played by Shi Pengyuan) with a complicated background. Amidst suspicion and temptation, the relationship between the two began moving in an unexpected direction.

Director of Photography

The Best is Yet to Come

The Best is Yet to Come · 2023

The Best is Yet to Come

In 2003, Han Dong, a teenager who dropped out of high school, arrives at Beijing with a dream of becoming a journalist.

Cinematography

The Hedonists

The Hedonists · 2016

MovieComedyDrama

The closure of an unprofitable state-run coal mine in Shanxi, China forces three middle-aged men who worked there to search for employment elsewhere.

Director of Photography