The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF, April 1-12) is set to open with Anthony Chen’s Berlinale competitor We’re All Strangers and close with Philip Yung’s Rotterdam competitor and transgender drama Cyclone for its 50th edition.
Both directors attended the media launch today held at the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong.
Also on stage were three Hong Kong teams presenting their world premieres, which will play in the Galas section. They included LGBTQ+ thriller We’re Nothing At All, with director Herman Yau and stars Patrick Tam Yiu-man, Anson Kong from boyband Mirror and Ansonbean in attendance; The Dating Menu with director Amos Why and actor Lo Chun Yip; and Spare Queens with director Tommy Tom, producer Chan Hing Kai and star Anson Kong.
This year’s Filmmaker in Focus is mainland Chinese director Jia Zhangke, who made an appearance through a pre-recorded video. His history with HKIFF goes back three decades when his first short film, 1996’s Xiao Shan Going Home, was selected, marking the first international film festival for his work. Since then, nearly all his films have screened at HKIFF.
“Cinema always meant a lot to me. It’s a way of practising freedom. It’s my way of becoming daring,” said Jia on video. “When you stand behind the camera and look at the world, you can break all kinds of taboos. When I feel the brightest moment and when I can feel total liberty is when I’m creating and filming, so I need that. Cinema is still my way of attaining freedom.”
He will travel to Hong Kong to attend the Face to Face session after the 4K restored screening of his 1998 feature debut Xiao Wu.
Highlights
Geoffrey Wong and Alvin Tse from the HKIFF programming team shared highlights from the selection with filmmakers in attendance, including a focus section on Juliette Binoche, which will include Berlinale winning Queen At Sea and her directing debut In-I In Motion.
Ildikó Enyedi and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai will present Venice winning Silent Friend. The Hungarian director will take part in a masterclass and serve as a jury of HKIFF’s Firebird Awards.
Programming director Wong noted several more Hong Kong productions. Documentaries Almost Home, produced by Ann Hui and Man Lim Chung, and Path Of Soul by Bamboo Theatre director Cheuk Cheung will receive world premieres.
Editor-turned-director Mary Stephen will present her Golden Horse winning documentary Palimpsest: The Story Of A Name. A string of her short films from the 1970s, now restored, will also be showcased.
The 4K restored version of Jacob Cheung’s 1992 classic Cageman will world premiere, while My Life As McDull director Toe Yuen’s latest animated film A Mighty Adventure, blended with real-life elements, will have a local premiere.
Curator Tse introduced special programme Revisiting Chinese Cinema: The Beginning of a New Journey. HKIFF was a window to the world for Chinese-language filmmakers from the early 1980s. Some 12 classic works will be featured, including Yellow Earth, a landmark film by Fifth Generation director Chen Kaige, Ann Hui’s The Secret from the Hong Kong New Wave, and In Our Time, a founding film of the Taiwan New Wave.
Chen and Hui along with Huang Jianxin, Tian Zhuangzhuang and Tsai Ming-Liang will take part in various masterclass and sharing sessions.
Further highlights include A Foggy Tale, winner of four Golden Horse Awards and starring Hong Kong actor Will Or; Roberto Rossellini’s newly restored Anno Uno, the opening film of the very first HKIFF in 1977; and Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague, a tribute to French New Wave.
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