The Hong Kong Asian Film Festival returns this month, now in it’s thirteenth year the film festival will run from the 31 October – 20 November and feature a wide range of modern and digitally remastered Asian films with numerous directors in town to talk about their work.
Local Directors – Opening/Closing Films
Somewhere Beyond the Mist directed by Hong Kong Film Awards and Golden Horse Awards winner Cheung King-wai is one of the festivals two opening and closing films. Starring Stephy Tang, the film explores humanity and goodness through a teenage girl’s chilling murder of her parents. The other opening film is In Your Dreams written and directed by new female director Tam Wai-ching. You Mei is a teacher who falls in love with a secondary school student (Ng Siu-hin). In depicting the relationship between the two, the film reveals the loneliness experienced by many in society.
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/HKAFF-2017/i-GcCM25X
Closing the festival will be The White Girl directed and written by Christopher Doyle and Jenny Suen. Set in Hong Kong’s last fishing village and starring Angela Yuen, Odagiri Joe, Michael Ning and Tony Wu, the film is about a girl who is allergic to the sun and is kept cooped up at home by her father.
The other closing film is Love Education, whose script took director Sylvia Chang 4 years to write, is about the relationships and struggles of 3 generations of women in a family.
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/HKAFF-2017/i-JnTzvN3
Gala Presentation – Hong Kong Action Films
The HKAFF’s Gala Presentations this year are The Empty Hands and The Brink. Both will have their Hong Kong premiere at HKAFF. The Brink is directed Jonathan Li and stars Zhang Jin, Shawn Yue, Janice Man, Wu Yue and Gordan Lam. With the film rumoured to cost over 100 million to make, the expectations are for some dynamic action scenes!
The Empty Hands, whose title is a translation of the literal meaning of karate, has it’s World Premiere at HKAFF and is produced, written and directed by Chapman To. Stephy Tang, previously known for her romance films, tries out a new role as karate practitioner. Her co-stars include Japanese karate master Kurata Yasuaki and local actor and martial artist Stephan Au. Dada Chan has a guest appearance.
First-time feature film director Chan Tai-lee’s Tomorrow Is Another Day tells an urban tale about an ordinary housewife. After enduring her husband’s secret affair for the sake of her autistic son, Mrs Wong (Teresa Mo) finally decides to take revenge against her husband. The film is an affecting look at how a middle-aged mother finds a new path for herself after being shaken by domestic crisis.
Deniece Law’s documentary debut Light Up captures a year in the life of an artistic troupe that welcomes performers with disabilities to show that mental and physical barriers can be broken with pure passion for performance and self-expression.
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/HKAFF-2017/i-wNxgkCW
Director in Focus – Suzuki Seijun
Suzuki Seijun, avant-garde filmmaker and one of the most important figures of Japanese New Wave, passed away in February this year. In a career spanning over 60 years since his directorial debut in 1956 Seijun has directed over 50 movies. Infused with elements of violence, gangsters the avant-garde, they include classic like Branded to Kill, Zigeunerweisen and Kagero-za. His approach and style of film making has inspired generations of filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino and Jim Jarmusch. This year’s HKAFF features several of his classic film, digitally restored, to commemorate an outlaw master of Japanese cinema.
The festival also features a selection of lighthearted films able to slow down the hustle and bustle of the city. A showcase of Taiwanese film includes Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Daughter of the Nile, Pakeriran by Lekal Sumi Changasan and The Last Painting from Chen Hung.
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/HKAFF-2017/i-GmndNX8
13th Hong Kong Asian Film Festival
Date: 31 October – 20 November, 2017
Venues: Broadway Cinematheque, Broadway The One, Palace APM, My Cinema Yoho Mall, AMC Pacific Place and Palace IFC
Tickets: www.cinema.com.hk
