Alice Wu

{{Infobox person | name = Alice Wu | image = Alice wu (6882625) (cropped).jpg | image_upright = 0.8 | caption = Wu in 2005 | birth_date = | birth_place = San Jose, California, U.S. | death_date = | alma_mater = Stanford University (BS, MS) | occupation = Filmmaker, screenwriter | years_active = | known_for = Saving FaceThe Half of ItWinner, Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, 2020 Tribeca Film FestivalNominated, Best Screenplay, 2020 Independent Spirit Award | notable_works = | spouse = | partner = | website = }} Alice Wu (; born April 21, 1970) is an American film director and screenwriter, known for her films Saving Face (2004) and The Half of It (2020). Both of her films feature Chinese-American main characters and explore the lives of intellectual, lesbian characters. A number of production companies offered to buy the script for Saving Face, but Wu opted not to sell it in order to uphold an authentic portrayal of the Taiwanese-American community. Saving Face and Wu's impact on the industry have paved the way for greater Asian representation in the film industry today. Her work has inspired Asian-American actresses such as Awkwafina and Lana Condor. Early life Alice Wu was born in San Jose, California to parents who were immigrants from Taiwan. Her family eventually moved to Los Altos, California, where she graduated from Los Altos High School in 1986. She enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the age of 16. She later transferred to Stanford University, where she earned her B.S. in Computer Science in 1990 and her master's degree in Computer Science in 1992. Before becoming a filmmaker, Wu worked as a software engineer for Microsoft in Seattle.