Kwan landed a job at TVB after receiving a mass communications degree at Hong Kong Baptist College.

Kwan's first film was Women (1985), which starred Chow Yun-fat, and was a big box-office success.

Kwan's films often deal sympathetically with the plight of women and their struggles with romantic affairs of the heart.

[3] Kwan came out as a gay man in 1996 in Yang ± Yin, his documentary looking at the history of Chinese-language film through the prism of gender roles and sexuality.

Kwan is also an occasional lecturer at the City University of Hong Kong, where he teaches directing and writing to students.