Busan 2025: The buzz titles from Hong Kong and China

Circle Game

Dir. Frankie Tam
Produced by crime film master Philip Yung, director of Papa and producer of The Sparring Partner, scriptwriter Tam’s solo directorial feature debut is based on the true case of the infamous cardboard box murder. While a suspect was charged and imprisoned, the case remains controversial and is dubbed one of Hong Kong’s biggest unresolved cases from the 1970s. With the recent passing of a key figure in the case, the film delves into the mystery that spans half a century. The cast includes Zhang Songwen, Patrick Tam, Isabella Leong and Edan Lui from popular boyband Mirror. Director Tam is the screenwriter of hit courtroom drama The Sparring Partner and co-director Undercover Punch And Gun.
Contact: Mandarin Motion Pictures 

Gloaming In Luomu

Dir. Zhang Lu
Set to world premiere in Busan’s inaugural Competition section, China-born Korean director Zhang’s latest drama focuses on a woman who travels to a small town in southwestern China to find out the truth after receiving a postcard from her missing boyfriend. The cast is headed by Bai Baihe, Liu Dan and veteran filmmaker Huang Jianxin. It is produced by Chengdu Lu Films, with Peng Jin as producer, who previously produced Zhang’s 2023 Berlinale Competition title The Shadowless Tower. Zhang’s credits also include Grain In Ear, winner of Busan’s New Currents award in 2005, and A Quiet Dream, which opened BIFF in 2016.
Contact: Song Yiran, Beijing Monar Films 

Love Curse

Dir. Chui Tze Yiu
This horror comedy is about a heartbroken woman who turns to black magic to win back her ex-boyfriend, only to find the folklore love spell spiral out of control. Shot in Kuala Lumpur and Taipei, the film is produced by One Cool Film Production’s Tang Wai But and features a regional cast led by Regina Lei from Taiwanese horror The Sadness and Korean series Twelve, along with Yua Mikami, Miko Wong and Sean Lin. Hong Kong-based director Chui’s previous work includes Showbiz Spy, Remember What I Forgot and drama series Who Sells Bricks In Hong Kong.
Contact: Christy Choi, One Cool Pictures 

Raindrops On A Roof

Dir. Zhou Jiali
With the late Pema Tseden as executive producer, Zhou’s feature debut, which will world premiere here, is a family drama about a single mother who is determined to erase the past and let go of the trauma that she, her siblings and their mother share. The cast includes Lu Yi-Ching, Ma Tianyu and Maizi. Director Zhou is a professor at the China Academy of Art and an author of books on Gilles Deleuze’s film philosophy and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s films and poetry. She is the screenwriter of Liu Zhihai’s award-winning war film Beyond The Skies and director of short documentary The Drifting-Away Surroundings.
Contact: Chen Yutong, Tiantongjia Films 

The River That Holds Our Hands

Dir. Chen Jianhang
This directorial feature debut was shot as a documentary for two years before segueing into fictional form and will receive its world premiere here at the festival. Set between Southeast Asia and southern China, the film traces the journey of Lam Po Wah, a Vietnamese Chinese woman shaped by displacements from war-torn Cambodia to revolutionary-era Puning, China. A short film version received support from the inaugural Maritime Guangdong Young Director Support Programme, while the long form project won an Asian new director award at Hong Kong’s Eye Catcher Global and Busan’s Asian Cinema Fund for post-production. Director Chen is a cross-cultural filmmaker with a focus on diasporic identity and transcultural ethnography.
Contact: Lin Ziyang, Third Eye Pictures 

See You My Dear

Dir. Jason Li
This directorial feature debut is a family drama exploring themes of artificial intelligence and stars Chen Bolin from Dead Talents Society and Jennifer Yu, best actress winner of Hong Kong Film Awards for In Broad Daylight. The story follows a grieving mother who is given a humanoid robot created by her husband. While the former is reluctant to accept it as her reborn eight-year-old daughter, they soon develop a unique bond until confusion and unease loom. Two Thumbs Up director Lau Ho Leung serves as producer. Director Li is managing director of Mei Ah Entertainment Group and an executive producer of The Sparring Partner.
Contact: Winnie Chan, Mei Ah Entertainment 

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