“I won’t give up producing cool shit and fan films, because it’s for the community. If we can inspire young filmmakers with our craft, that’s the best prize.” Vi-Dan Tran

Over the last decade, Germany has become a hotbed of aspiring young martial arts talent who have seen their careers grow from DIY short films on YouTube to massive Hollywood productions. Cologne-born Vi-Dan Tran is a wushu practitioner and Hong Kong movie fan. His passions led to a career in stunts and eventually membership of the hallowed Jackie Chan Stunt Team, working with the man himself on movies like The Foreigner (2016) and Bleeding Steel (2017). Nowadays, Vi-Dan Tran can be found behind-the-scenes working on the action design of some of Hollywood’s biggest movies, from Shang-Chi to Dune. His latest film is Knights of the Zodiac, a live-action take on Japan’s popular Saint Seiya manga series. It’s pretty clear that Vi-Dan Tran will be directing feature films soon enough, and he admits that he couldn’t have achieved so much if it wasn’t for the strong bonds he has made within the German martial arts filmmaking community.

It was Vi-Dan Tran who helped to bring fellow German martial artist Lorenz Hideyoshi onto the set of Dune, where he worked as Timothée Chalamet’s stunt double for both films in the series. Lorenz is equally puzzled as to why there are so many Germans of his generation working in the action film business; people like Andy Long, Max Huang, Mike Möller, Julia Schunevitsch, Can Aydin, Cha-Lee Yoon, Phong Giang, not to mention Lorenz’s own brother, Felix Fukuyoshi. Despite their individual successes, they can all still be found jumping into each other’s projects, as demonstrated by Lorenz with his stand-out appearances in great martial arts movies like Plan B (2016) and Luc Van Tien (2017). A multitalented artist in his own right, Lorenz’s new short film is called Daddy Issues, a fun kung fu throwback in which he stars, co-writes and co-directs.

Follow Vi-Dan Tran on Instagram and his production company, T7 Productions, on YouTube. Follow Lorenz Hideyoshi on Instagram and YouTube, and follow his own production company, Young Masters, on YouTube.

Timothée Chalamet (left) with his stunt double, Lorenz Hideyoshi, during the filming of Dune (2021).

Vi-Dan Tran (left) operates the camera with Andy Cheng (centre) during the filming of Knights of the Zodiac (2023).