Tag: film

Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong 2016

Sundance-Hong-Kong-2016

The third Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong will take place from 22 September – 2 October 2016. The festival will again feature films from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival in Utah, U.S.A. as well as Q&A sessions and panel discussions with Festival programmers and visiting filmmakers. Screening and ticketing information will be summer 2016.

Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong
Date: 22 September – 2 October, 2016
Venue: The Metroplex
Tickets: tbc

Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong Short Film Competition
Many talented directors have made their mark and kick started their career via a short film. Looking to nurture the creativity of local independent filmmakers the first Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong Short Film Competition is open Hong Kong permanent residents age 18 or above. There are no limitation on genres or themes however all entries must be completed on or after January 1, 2015, with a duration between 3 to 15 minutes.

The jury panel includes representatives from the U.S. and Hong Kong film industry:
John Cooper, Director of Sundance Film Festival
Trevor Groth, Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival
Kim Yutani, Senior Programmer, Sundance Film Festival
Mike Plante, Senior Short Film Programmer, Sundance Film Festival
Adam Wong, Hong Kong independent filmmaker; Director of She Remembers, He Forgets
Sam Ho, Film Historian
Jan Lam, Program Manager, The Metroplex

Official selected shorts will be screened at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong in September. The winner of the Jury Award will receive a HKD$30,000 cash prize as well as an invitation to attend the Sundance Film Festival in Utah in 2017 (roundtrip air ticket and hotel accommodation inclusive).

The 2016 Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong Short Film Competition is open for submission from March 21 to June 30, 2016. For further information on submission procedures and rules and regulations see hk.sundance.org

Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong Short Film Master Class
Short film have been an important part of cinema, storytelling, and culture since the first days of the moving image. The 2016 Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong Short Film Master Class looks to empower the next generation of film-makers. The half-day seminar focuses on narrative short-form storytelling, offering insight into story development, writing, production, working with cast and crew, what to do with your short once it is complete, and how to get the most out of making a short film. Participants will also learn how the Sundance Film Festival finds short films, and filmmakers will share their experiences in making shorts.

The Master Class speakers include:
Mike Plante, Senior Short Film Programmer, Sundance Film Festival
David Zellner, U.S. independent filmmaker, Director of Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
Adam Wong, Hong Kong independent filmmaker; Director of She Remembers, He Forgets

Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong Short Film Master Class
Date: 19-20 March
Venue: The Metroplex
Tickets: $150
More info: hk.sundance.org.

International Film Festival Macao

The first International Film Festival Macao will take place from the 8-14 December, 2016. Marco Mueller, who was previously director at the Locarno, Venice and Rome film festivals, is poised to be announced as festival director in March. Financed predominantly by the Macau government’s bureau for film the US$10million festival will be capped at 45 films and is expected to feature several galas and a competition section.

International Film Festival Macao
Date: 8-14 December, 2016
Venue: tbc
Tickets: tbc

Cathay’s Cantonese Tour de Force

sorrowful lute

In 1954 to cater to the local predominately Cantonese-speaking audience the Motion Picture & General Investment Co Ltd, later known as Cathay, began making Cantonese language films in Hong Kong. Recruiting, amongst others, the directorial talents of Tso Kea, Wong Tin-lam and Wong Toi, these films included adaptations of literary classics, airwave novels (stories originally told over the radio) and foreign films.

As part of the retrospective Angels over the Rainbow – Cathay’s 80th Anniversary Celebration the LSCD is screening several Cantonese films from that era at the HK film Archive over the weekend of the 12-13 March. All films are black and white and in Cantonese with, sadly, no English sub-titles.

The romantic tragedy Love Lingers On (1957) is based on Emily Brontë’s gothic novel Wuthering Heights. Concentrating on the characters’ simmering mental troubles, Tso Kea shepherds the tale of profound passion, thwarted love and bitter vengefulness with broad narrative strokes and delicate orchestration of mise-en-scène.
Love Lingers On: 1pm, 12 March, 2016 at HK Film Archive, $40

love lingers on - film still

Based on the Hollywood film Love Me or Leave Me (1955), The Sorrowful Lute (1957) features the rooftop entertainment scene of Guangzhou and portrays love and careers, and fame and power, in the Cantonese opera world. Tso Kea brilliantly depicts a crazed relationship balanced with extreme and subtle emotions. Ng Cho-fan embraces his role as a crippled sponsor with a shady side, while Fong Yim-fun counters with a riveting turn as a Cantonese opera diva struggling in lust and fame.
The Sorrowful Lute: 5pm, 12 March, 2016 at HK Film Archive, $40

second spring - film still

Second Spring (1960) is adapted from a typical airwave novel by Li Ngaw and tells of the reunion of two miserable lovers (Law Kim-long and Christine Pai Lu-ming) after going through ordeals. Wong Tin-lam’s skilful mise-en-scène brings out the strong script structure and introduces a humorous servant (Leung Sing-po) and a defiant maid (Chan Ho-kau) to provide much comic relief.
Second Spring: 7:30pm, 12 March, 2016 at HK Film Archive, $40

Also adapted from a Li Ngaw airwave novel, The Song of the Nightingale (1961) follows a poor young man (Woo Fung) and an ill-fated village girl (Christine Pai Lu-ming) being forced to leave their home village and toil away to rise from despair. Wong Toi fluently lays out the twist-filled plot, in which Pai shows her resilience with measured precision and depth. In a role that moves from wealthy heir to poor and desperate scammer, Cheng Kwan-min utterly inhabits a loathsome character, and is paired in a duo of classic melodrama villains with Lee Hong-kum playing his two-faced partner in crime.
The Song of the Nightingale: 7:30pm, 13 March, 2016 at HK Film Archive, $40

the song of the nightingale

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Opens in Hong Kong on 17 December, 2015

star wars opens in Hong Kong

The Force Awakens, the latest instalment in the Star Wars saga opens in Hong Kong on the 17 December, one day before the US opening.

The film stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Max Von Sydow.

Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk are producing with Tommy Harper and Jason McGatlin serving as executive producers. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan & J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt.

Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong

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The second Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong featuring 11 films from the US Festival runs from 17-27 September, screenings will take place at The Metroplex in Kowloon Bay.
Click on any photo to see the full gallery of images

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2015/Sundance-HK-Film-Festival/52034748_LpbrC2#!i=4360538050&k=tpQCxqQ

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Septiembre Mexicano

sept mexico

Experience Mexico during Septiembre Mexicano as The Consulate General of Mexico in Hong Kong organizes a series of art, culture, music and gastronomic activities, open to the public, to celebrate its 205th anniversary of independence.

Fashion
Mexican designer Carmen Rion, presents her latest textile designs at the “Renaissance of Fashion” event. Rion is also a fashion researcher and is well known for ‘rescuing’ traditional Mexican textiles and integrating them into her contemporary creations.
Carmen Rion
Date: 9am-5:45pm, 31 August – 25 September, 2015.
Venue: The Fashion Gallery, Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Rd, Hung Hom.
Tickets: Free

Food
Enjoy millenary dishes and 21st century Mexican haute cuisine as chef Jose Lazcarro prepares some of the most traditional dishes including: ceviche, shrimp agua chile, mole poblano, green pipian at Cafe Too and the Lobster Bar in the Island Shangri La. Chef Lazcarro worked with Alain Ducasse in Paris in 2009, then in the USA with Robert McCormick and is currently Executive Chef at Quinze in his hometown of Puebla.
Chef Jose Lazcarro
Date: 8-30 September 2015.
Venues: Lobster Bar and Grill, 6/F, Island Shangri-La; Cafe Too, 7/F, Island Shangri-La.

Art
Abstract artist Roberto Turnbull inaugurated his first solo exhibit of 26 artworks entitled Mexican Big Bang: Paintings by Roberto Turnbull at the HK Museum and Art Gallery, HK University earlier this month. Turnbull is a versatile artist comfortable in the realm of painting and sculpting; in the chaos of the flat abstraction, and in the order of three-dimensional geometry.
Mexican Big Bang
Roberto Turnbull
Date: 9 September – 29 November, 2015
Venue: Drake Gallery, HK Museum and Art Gallery, HK University
Tickets: Free

Film
Alamar (To the Sea, 2009), directed, written and produced, Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio, captures the unconditional love of a father for his son as they spend time together amid the stark beauty of unspoiled nature of the Banco Chinchorro coral reef before the son departs for Italy.

alamar

Alamar
Alamar (To the Sea, 2009), directed, written and produced, Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio, captures the unconditional love of a father for his young son as they spend time together living in a stilt house amid the stark beauty of unspoiled nature of the Chinchorro coral reef before the son departs for Italy.
Date: 7pm, 24 September, 2015
Venue: Global Lounge, G/F, Fong Shu Chuen Amenities Centre, HK University.
More info: +852-2511-3305 / [email protected]

Music
Ernesto Anaya is one of the most popular Mexican musicians of the last 30 years offers. His countryside roots combined with an operatic style create a very particular and original style of Mexican folkloric music. Anaya is a singer, composer, violinist, guitarist, pianist, and producer, as well as a jaranero or jarana player. The Jarana is a guitar-shaped instrument from the southern region of the state of Veracruz, Mexico.
Ernesto Anaya
Date: 27, 29 September
Venue: Orange Peel
Tickets: tbc

Septiembre Mexicano
More info: facebook.com/consulmexhk

Source: Consulate General of Mexico in Hong Kong

HK Lesbian & Gay Film Festival

Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival

Now in it’s 26 year the Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (HKLGFF) continues to bring a wide range of LGBT films to local audiences. This year’s festival features 59 films and runs for three weeks this year from 19 September to 10 October 2015.

Opening Film + Gala Party
Front Cover is the tale of a gay Chinese-American fashion stylist, who despises his ethnic heritage, yet is given an important assignment to style a patriotic actor from Beijing. After a rocky start, a friendship develops leading them to examine their beliefs and identities. Starring Jake Choi, James Chen and directed by Ray Yeung, Front Cover is a bittersweet dramatic comedy, which looks at the Asian-American experience with humour, irony and insight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMs_rE1_ln4

In Yes or No 2.5 Love You Baby, starring Sunanta Yoonniyom, Pimpakan Bangchawong and Chansakorn Kittiwattanakorn, Wine, a photographer, and Pii, a chef, are roommates and best friends. They share their lives together but things start to change when two girls Pim and Fah move in next door. Pim coincidently is Wine’s first love, whom she still hasn’t forgotten but Pim now has a boyfriend. Things get complicated when Fah develops feelings for Pii. Director Kirati Nak-intanon and the cast will attend the screening.

The Opening Gala Party is at Zafran, 10:30pm 19 September, 2015. Bring your opening movie ticket stub for free admission and one complimentary drink.

Closing Films + Party
In Baby Steps, a Taiwanese-American man Danny, and his boyfriend, long to have a baby, but the journey becomes increasingly complicated by Danny’s well-intentioned but meddlesome mother who wants to control every aspect of the process from Taipei. Produced by Oscar winning producer Li-Kong Hsu (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Wedding Banquet, Eat Drink Man Woman), and legendary Taiwan actress Grace Guei who also stars in the film as Danny’s mother. Director/ male lead Barney Cheng will be present at the screening to greet the audience.

Freeheld, starring Oscar winner Julianne Moore and Ellen Page, is based on a true story that took place from 2002 – 2006. New Jersey Detective Lieutenant Laurel Hester (Moore) is diagnosed with terminal cancer. She shares her life with her loving partner Stacie (Page) a car mechanic who is much younger than her. Laurel fearing for Stacie’s future sought to leave all her benefits to her, only to be blocked by the county’s governing body of Freeholders. With the help of an LGBT activist Steven (Carell) together they fight to have Laurel’s pension benefits passed on to Stacie. A love story about a loving partnership that in the eyes of law isn’t seen as equals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blk27Jj9UE8

The Closing Party is at Kee Club: 10pm, 10 October, 2015. Bring your closing movie ticket stub for free admission and one complimentary drink.

Highlights
I am Michael starring James Franco, Zachary Quinto, and produced by Gus Van Sant is based on Benoit Denizet-Lewis’ New York Times Magazine article “My Ex-Gay Friend”. It is a controversial true story of a gay activist Michael Glatze in 2007 shocked his friends and followers when he publicly renounced his homosexuality and becomes a Christian pastor. What could have led to such an extreme change of belief?

Wonderful World End, starring Ai Hashimoto and Jun Anonami, is about two girls whose relationship surpasses everything like age and sex. This romantic fantastical music film is lighthearted but the feelings and young talents are genuine together. “Guys can’t save us. Only a girl can save a girl.”

In the documentary My Fair Wedding, Kim Gwang-soo, an openly gay film-maker announces his intention to marry Dave Kim, his partner of 9 years who is 19 years his junior. On 7th September, 2013, the couple tie the knot in the heart of downtown Seoul, challenging the tradition-abiding and conservative Korean sensibility through this event which became the first gay marriage in Korean history. However, everything around them is inculcated with a culture of homophobia. As the big day approaches, they grow more and more nervous, wondering what will happen on their wedding day. Kim Gwang-soo and Dave Kim will be present at the screenings to share their stories with audience.

https://youtu.be/6jfem2CO-vk

Taiwanese auteur Chang Tso-chi latest work is Thanatos Drunk. Rat works at a market stall but his alcoholic mother constantly nags him to get a proper job and stop hanging out with Shuo, an underworld gigolo whom he looks up to and shares a flat with. Rat’s older brother, Shang-ho, used to live in at the US but returns after losing his boyfriend there. Shang-ho gradually falls for Shuo until Shuo’s past catches up on him…

Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
Date: 19 September – 10 October, 2015
Venue: AMC Festival Walk ($90), AMC Pacific Place ($95), The ONE ($80) & Broadway Cinematheque ($80)
Tickets: various
More info: www.hklgff.hk

Netflix to Launch in Hong Kong in Early 2016

Netflix_Logo_Digital+Video_0701

Netflix press release 8 September 2015 – Netflix, Inc. announced today it will expand into South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan in early 2016 as it moves to complete its global rollout by the end of next year.

Once launched, Internet users will be able to subscribe to Netflix and instantly watch a curated selection of popular TV shows and movies in high-definition or even Ultra HD 4K on nearly any Internet-connected screen. Netflix first became available in Asia earlier this month with the start of service in Japan.

“The combination of increasing Internet speeds and ubiquity of connected devices provides consumers with the anytime, anywhere ability to enjoy their favorite TV shows and movies on the Netflix service,” said Reed Hastings, chief executive officer of Netflix. “These four markets well represent those trends.”

With a constantly improving user experience, advanced personalization technology and a curated selection of TV shows and films, Netflix members are able to create their own viewing experience and can easily discover new favorites, while reconnecting with popular characters and stories.

Netflix members connected to the Internet can watch whenever, wherever they like, and on any device they choose. Members can start watching on one device, pause, and then pick up where they left off on another, at home or on the go.

Netflix will be available at launch on smart TVs, tablets and smartphones, computers and a range of Internet-capable game consoles and set-top boxes. Additional details on pricing, programming and supported devices will be available at a later date. Consumers can sign up to be alerted when Netflix is available on www.netflix.com.

We can only hope the full range of shows and films will be available!!!