Man of Tai Chi is a 2013 Chinese-American martial arts film directed by and starring Keanu Reeves.[2][3][4] The film is Reeves's directional debut. Man of Tai Chi is a multilingual narrative, partly inspired by the life of Reeves' friend, stuntman Tiger Chen. Pre-production began in 2008 with years-long script refinements. During Man of Tai Chi's five years of scripting and production, Reeves acted in several B movies with lead roles as Henry in 2010's Henry's Crime and John in 2012's Generation Um.... When the project eventually moved into the production phase, filming occurred on mainland China and Hong Kong. The film premiered in 2013 with showings at the Beijing Film Festival[5] and Cannes Film Festival.[6] It is also scheduled to be shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[7] The work was awarded in Beijing and praised by recognized action film director John Woo.