Three local films - Soi Cheang’s Mad Fate, Ann Hui’s documentary Elegies and Cheuk Wan Chi’s Vital Sign - will bookend the 47th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) as it returns to a full physical event and welcomes international filmmakers back in person.
The festival unveiled its full line-up today at a press event well attended by local filmmakers and cast. Some 200 films from 64 countries and regions will be presented during the 12-day festival, including nine world premieres, six international premieres and 67 Asian premieres. There will be 320 (mostly in-theatre and some online) screenings and audience engagement events.
Set to run from March 30 – April 10, the festival will open with the Asian premiere of Soi Cheang’s noir thriller Mad Fate, which recently had its world premiere in the Berlinale. Macau-born Cheang is also honoured as this year’s filmmaker-in-focus. A retrospective of 12 of his films will be showcased, from his 1999 debut film Our Last Day, shot on digital video, horrors Horror Hotline… Big Head Monster and New Blood to Accident and Motorway, both produced by Johnnie To and competed at Venice, and Limbo, which also premiered in the Berlinale.
Internationally acclaimed director Hui pays tribute to poets and their poetry through her documentary Elegies, which will world premiere as the second opening film of HKIFF, while Cheuk’s paramedic drama Vital Sign, starring Louis Koo, Yau Hawk Sau and Angela Yuen, will close the festival.
Another two local documentaries that look into the history and traditions of Hong Kong will also have their world premieres at HKIFF. Winter Chants shines a spotlight again on director Tsang Tsui Shan’s home village Ho Chung through the once-every-10-years Tai Ping Ching Chiu Festival, but this time during the pandemic, and To Be Continued by Dora Choi and Haider Kikabhoy, which rediscovers the forgotten legend of Harry Odell, who was considered the first impresario in post-war Hong Kong.
International filmmakers who have been largely absent due to the Covid-related travel restrictions are expected to return and meet local audiences in person. Among them are Taiwanese maestro Tsai Ming-Liang who will present his latest feature Where and conduct a masterclass with his regular actor Lee Kang-Sheng, following the screenings of his short film Where Do You Stand, Tsai Ming-Liang?.
More highlights from the line-up include the latest from master filmmakers such as Werner Herzog, Cristian Mungiu, Frederick Wiseman, and Hong Sang-soo.
The Hong Kong International Film Festival usually takes place alongside Hong Kong Filmart but not this year in order to coincide with the Ching Ming and the long Easter holiday to boost ticket sales.
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