Category Archives: Hong Kong International Film Festival

Hong Kong International Film Festival to Honor Michael Hui

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The retrospective of Michael Hui’s films will also include an appearance before an audience to discuss his career. 
PHOTO: The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society

HONG KONG – The Hong Kong International Film Festival has announced that veteran director and actor Michael Hui will be the subject of this year’s Filmmaker-in-Focus program.

The festival hailed Hui’s “career spanning half a century as producer, writer, director and actor,” who has “dazzled and entertained generations of Hong Kong audiences with his character-driven satires combined with a splash of slapstick alongside a unique Cantonese sensibility.”

The festival will present a retrospective of 10 of Hui’s films, including “Chicken and Duck Talk” (1988), “Front Page” (1990), “The Magic Touch” (1992) and “Always on My Mind” (1993). The 77-year-old Hui collaborated frequently with his brothers Ricky, Sam and Stanley.

“Michael is a living legend,” Albert Lee, HKIFF executive director, said in a statement on Jan. 23. “Just as the works of screen legends the ilk of Chaplin, Keaton and Tati, Hui’s mastery of his craft makes him a true icon of Hong Kong cinema, with an enduring influence on generations of aspiring filmmakers and comedians” Lee said. “We are thrilled and honored to be recognizing his massive contribution which redefined Hong Kong’s comedy cinema.”

The retrospective will also include a book on Hui’s films and an appearance before a public audience at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on March 28 to discuss his career.

The 44th Hong Kong International Film Festival runs from March 24 to April 6.

Taiwanese Actress Brigitte Lin to Receive Gala at Italian Film Festival

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Cloud of Romance 我是一片雲

A scene from ‘Cloud of Romance’ (1977)
PHOTO (above): Hong Kong International Film Festival
FEATURED IMAGE PHOTO: Far East Film Festival

HONG KONG – The Far East Film Festival will celebrate the career of Taiwanese actress Brigitte Lin at this year’s event in April, the festival organizers said this week.

The Udine, Italy-based festival will honor Lin with its Golden Mulberry Lifetime Achievement Award and a “small and precious” retrospective of her films. Lin is considered the “goddess” of Hong Kong and Taiwan cinema, the festival said in a statement.

Lin has starred in more than 100 films, the festival organizers noted, appearing in “sentimental melodramas and wuxia titles, to thrillers and eccentric experimental projects,” which the festival will “distill” into a retrospective that will include the European premiere of “Cloud of Romance” (1977), which was recently restored by the Taiwan Film Institute.

The 63-year-old Lin, who retired from her acting career in 1994, will be accompanied by Hong Kong producer Nansun Shi, who has previously collaborated with Lin on films. Shi herself received the Golden Mulberry Lifetime Achievement Award three years ago.

The announcement comes after the Hong Kong International Film Festival also unveiled plans to honor Lin at this year’s 42nd edition in March. The HKIFF will screen 14 of Lin’s films and hold a public seminar, in which the actress will discuss her film career.

The Far East Film Festival, which describes itself as the “European epicenter of Asian cinema,” is known for drawing audiences from Italy, across Europe and around the world to honor Asian movies, filmmakers and actors.

Udine, a picturesque city of about 100,000 in northeast Italy, is situated between Trieste and the Italian Alps.

The Far East Film Festival this year marks its 20th edition, which will be held April 20-28.

HKIFF to Honor Taiwanese Actress Brigitte Lin

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ChungkingExpress 重慶森林

Brigitte Lin in ‘Chungking Express’ (1994), by director Wong Kar-wai.
PHOTO: Hong Kong International Film Festival

HONG KONG – Taiwanese actress Brigitte Lin will be honored by the Hong Kong International Film Festival next month as this year’s “Filmmaker in Focus,” the festival has announced.

At the 42nd edition of the HKIFF, the festival will screen 14 films starring Lin, considered one of the greatest actresses in modern Chinese-language cinema. “Lin is an enduring iconic figure for her legendary beauty and distinguished performances,” the festival said in a statement.

The 14 films include a restored version of “Outside the Window” (1973), which marked Lin’s screen debut. Other films to be shown at the festival include “Peking Opera Blues” (1986), directed by Tsui Hark; director Ann Hui’s “Starry is the Night” (1988); “The Bride with White Hair” (1993) from director Ronny Yu; and “Chungking Express” (1994) and “Ashes of Time” (1994), both from director Wong Kar-wai.

Lin won best actress at the Golden Horse Awards for her performance in “Red Dust” (1990), which also will screen at the festival.

Lin will also appear at the festival’s “Face to Face” seminar at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre on March 31 to share with the audience memories and stories about her films and her personal life.

The 63-year-old Lin has largely led a private life since retiring from her acting career in 1994, making only occasional public appearances.

The 42 Hong Kong Film Festival opens on March 19 and runs through April 5.

Ashes of Time Redux 東邪西毒終極版

Brigitte Lin in director Wong Kar-wai’s ‘Ashes of Time’ (1994).
PHOTO: Hong Kong International Film Festival

Kaori Momoi: The Art of Playing a Prostitute

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Kaori Momoi at the screening of ‘Hee’ in Hong Kong on March 31.
PHOTO: Hong Kong International Film Festival Society

Japanese actress Kaori Momoi is in Hong Kong this week to present her film “Hee” at the 40th Hong Kong International Film Festival. “Hee” had its premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, and the Hong Kong screening marks the film’s Asian premiere.

Ms. Momoi both directed the film and took the lead role of an ageing prostitute who has been accused of murdering her family and is now seeing a psychiatrist.

As part of my work for the HKIFF , I attended the film’s screening and wrote up an article based on the Q&A that Ms. Momoi conducted with the audience. It can be read here.