This year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF, March 28-April 8) will open with the Asian premiere of All Shall Be Well, directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Ray Yeung, which recently won the Teddy Award at Berlin film festival.
Starring Patra Au and Maggie Li, the film tells the story of an older lesbian couple and how the surviving partner struggles to retain her home and her dignity when one of them passes away. The film premiered in the Panorama section at the Berlinale.
Japanese filmmaker Miyake Sho’s All The Long Nights, starring Matsumura Hokuto and Kamishiraishi Mone, which premiered in the Forum section of Berlin, will close the festival on April 8.
Gala screenings also include the world premiere of Hong Kong filmmaker Ho Miu-ki’s Love Lies, starring Sandra Ng, Cheung Tin-fu and Stephy Tang; Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s Gift, a collaboration with composer Eiko Ishibashi, which will be accompanied by a live performance; French filmmaker Xavier Legrand’s The Successor, and Jang Jae-hyun’s Exhuma, currently a much-needed box office hit in Korea.
As previously announced, Hong Kong filmmaker Fruit Chan will be the Filmmaker In Focus, presenting ten of his films including Made In Hong Kong, Little Cheung and the more recent Three Husbands.
HKIFF will also welcome several international filmmakers who will present their works and meet the audience in person, including Victor Erice, Martin McDonagh, Zar Amir, Ishibashi Eiko, Bill Plympton, Anand Patwardhan, Soda Kazuhiro, Tsai Ming-liang and Miyake Sho.
In the Firebird Awards, the Young Cinema Competition (Chinese-language) will present eight films, including the world premiere of Fresh Off Markham, an anthology directed by Hong Kong filmmakers Kurt Yuen, Cyrus Lo and Trevor Choi; and recent Berlin titles Brief History Of A Family and Some Rain Must Fall. The eight titles selected for the Young Cinema Competition (world) include Nelson Carlos de los Santos Arias’ Pepe and Yoon Eun-kyoung’s The Tenants.
The Fantastic Beats section will screen films including Japan-Taiwan co-production 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days, directed by Michihito Fujii, and Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex.