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Hong Kong Arts Centre: Moving Images Announces May Programme

: Moving Images announces their May programme, which includes their Golden Scene Selection, “HONG KONG SHORT FILM: New Action Express” Online Short Film Selection: And Here Comes the Dawn, Hong Kong Arts Centre x Hong Kong Independent Film Festival – Independently Yours: Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down and Independently Yours – May.

Golden Scene Selection – May

Venue: Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre Date: 2020.05.26 – 2020.05.31Price: Standard ticket: $80. Tickets are now available at PUTYOURSELF.in.  

“Golden Scene Selection”, proudly presented by the Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC) and Golden Scene Company Limited, will bring the audience a series of cherry-picked selections from around the world at the HKAC.Screening Schedule26/5 (Tue)  8pm        Suk Suk (Preview)27/5 (Wed)  8pm       Beyond The Dream (Preview)28/5 (Thu)  8pm        My Prince Edward (Preview)29/5 (Fri)   8pm         Tora-san, Wish You Were Here*30/5 (Sat)  3pm         Beyond The Dream (Preview)30/5 (Sat)  7pm         Suk Suk31/5 (Sun)  3pm        Tora-san, Wish You Were Here*31/5 (Sun)  7pm        My Prince Edward (Preview)*With after-screening talk (conducted in Cantonese).   

The following measures will be implemented for Golden Scene Selection screenings, to combat the prevailing threat of Novel Coronavirus:
– All audience must wear face masks
– Cinema staff have the right to deny the admission of any person with temperature higher than 37.5°C

Suk Suk

Director: Ray Yeung

Cast: Ben Yuen, Tai Bo, Patra AuHong Kong | 2019 | 92' | In Cantonese with English subtitles | DCP | Colour  

26/5 (Tue)  8pm  (Preview)

30/5 (Sat)  7pm  

SUK SUK presents the story of two closeted married men in their twilight years.  One day PAK, 70, a taxi driver who refuses to retire, meets HOI, 65, a retired single father, in a park. Despite years of societal and personal pressure, they are proud of the families they have created through hard work and determination. Yet in that brief initial encounter, something is unleashed in them which had been suppressed for so many years. As both men recount and recall their personal histories, they also contemplate a possible future together.  SUK SUK studies the subtle day-to-day moments of two men as they struggle between conventional expectations and personal desires.

Beyond The Dream 

Director: Kiwi Chow

Cast: Terrance Lau, Cecilia Choi

Hong Kong | 2019 | 120' | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | DCP | Colour  

27/5 (Wed)  8pm  (Preview)

30/5 (Sat)  3pm  (Preview) 

Lok (Terrance Lau) is a recovering schizophrenic who yearns for love. One day, he encounters the young and beautiful Yan (Cecilia Choi) and quickly falls in love with her. Just when he struggles whether to tell her about his illness, he has a relapse and becomes delusional. Little does he know that she's a psychological counselor who has a hidden agenda. The pair develops a relationship that is beyond their wildest dreams. 

My Prince Edward

Director: Norris Wong

Cast: Stephy Tang, Chu Pak Hong, Paw Hee Ching, Jin Kaiji, Eman Lam, Hui So Ying, Kaki Sham

Hong Kong | 2019 | 91' | In Cantonese and Putonghua (in parts) with Chinese and English subtitles | DCP | Colour

28/5 (Thu)  8pm  (Preview)

31/5 (Sun)  7pm  (Preview) 

My Prince Edward is set in Prince Edward district's Golden Plaza, a shopping mall in Hong Kong best known for bridal shops and cheap wedding supplies. Fong (Stephy Tang) is a clerk at one such bridal shop. She has been with Edward (Chu Pak Hong), the owner of a wedding photography shop in the same mall, for seven years. Everyone sees Edward as Fong's Prince Charming, destined to head to the altar. The problem is that Fong must first sort out the sham marriage that she was paid to take part in years ago before she can get married for real.

Tora-san, Wish You Were Here! 

Director: Yoji Yamada

Cast: Chieko Baisho, Gin Maeda, Hidetaka Yishioka, Kumiko Goto, Mari Natsuki, Ruriko Asaoka, Kiyoshi Atsumi

Japan | 2019 | 116' | In Japanese with Chinese and English subtitles | DCP | Colour  

29/5 (Fri)   8pm*

31/5 (Sun)  3pm*

*Veteran film critic William Lau will attend the after-screening talk (conducted in Cantonese).

On the sixth anniversary of the death of Mitsuo Suwa's wife, a memorial service is held at Kurumaya, formerly a long-standing traditional confectionery store on the approach to Taishakuten Temple in Shibamata. It has been reborn as a modern cafe, but the living quarters in the back remain unchanged. After the service, the conversation inevitably turns to lively reminiscences of the past, especially the many times that Torajiro, a travelling salesman and the black sheep of the Kuruma family, brought his latest unrequited love interest back with him, sending the house into an uproar… Half a century has now passed since Torajiro, fondly (and not-so-fondly) referred to as Tora, first returned to Kurumaya after leaving home in his youth.  Mitsuo, who was an office worker for many years, now enjoys a career as a full-time writer, after a novel he wrote in his spare time won recognition. His latest work has also been well received, and a book-signing session is held for him to meet and greet fans. However, upon glancing at the waiting line, he is stunned to see his first love, Izumi Oikawa, who he had once promised to marry. She now lives in Europe but has returned to Japan on a business trip, during which she stumbled across Mitsuo's signing event. He makes quick work of the session, telling Izumi he wants her to meet someone, then takes her to a small jazz cafe. Izumi takes one look at the proprietor's face, and is astonished: it is Lily, the greatest love of Tora's life, who she met on the island of Amami Oshima over 20 years ago. Reunited after so many years, the three share their dearest memories of Tora. As they talk, Mitsuo and Izumi sense a warmth growing between them. Later that night, Izumi visits Kurumaya…

“HONG KONG SHORT FILM: New Action Express” Online Short Film Selection: And Here Comes the Dawn

Venue: Online for a limited-time

Date: 2020.05.16 – 2020.05.24

Price: Free of charge 

Living together in the same city, there are people walking to work or returning home from dusk till dawn, trying hard to make ends meet. Passing by numerous or breadwinners closely every day, their stories remain unknown to any of us. 

HONG KONG SHORT FILM: NEW ACTION EXPRESS: And Here Comes the Dawn will be held online late-night this weekend, featuring 5 local short films. The 5 shorts illustrate various ways of living in our city. People depicted may be ordinary, yet they strive to make a living in the city, just like you and me. 

As summer nights go by so very slow, let's get your laptops ready, and take a walk into their life stories. When the journey ends, here comes the dawn.

Screening time:
16/5 (Sat) 12am & 2pm
23/5 (Sat) 12am & 7pm

Ticketing and screening procedures: 

  1. Register on HKAC website
  2. Confirmation emails will be sent out a day before the screening
  3. The link and password to view the short films will be sent via email, 30 minutes before the screening time
  4. The link and password will be valid for 3 hours from the screening time 

Register now

For any enquiries, please contact us via email [email protected]

Screening line-up:

Sister Kam
Director: Lo Chun-yip
Hong Kong | 2013 | 23' | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour

As you step into that restaurant, French music plays. The colour scheme is mainly red and black, and the décor has a slightly cultural flavour. You keep going to the bathroom next to the back entrance, and perhaps you'll see the dishwashing woman. She is taking a nap standing, with her hands still in the plastic bucket—a scene more surreal than the restaurant itself. Her name is Sister Kam. 

“Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival has international professionals, amazing audience and a powerful network. I've got a lot of inspiration, especially I've found that the structure of story-telling was so different in France and that will help a lot on my next short film project” — Shared by Lo Chun-yip, director of Sister KAM after attending Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival & Market 2016 in France, under the sponsorship of NAE.

Call Me Mrs. Chan
Director: Chan Hau-chun, Chui Chi-yin
Hong Kong | 2017 | 15' | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour 

Cleaner Mrs Chan works in a public housing estate to clear the garbage, 365 days a year except on the first day of the Chinese New Year. For the past ten years, her quiet dedication cleaning the building has brought her no respect, only back pain. She said people despised her job, but she carried on with it. 

“We've heard of the Clermont Short Film Festival, but it was the first time that we attend it. We have learnt a lot from this trip. By watching various screenings every day, we recognise the limitation of our imagination and vision. These high-quality international short films not only bring us the visual impact, but also the soul punch.” —Shared by Chan Hau-chun and Chui Chi-yin, directors of Call Me Mrs Chan after attending Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival & Market 2018 in France, under the sponsorship of NAE.

More than ice-cream Wong Kwong
Director: Riley Leung
Hong Kong | 2011 | 13' | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour

Uncle ice-cream, a 90 year-old man, who shares experience and shows his mental toughness to his customers every day. Presenting a spirit of old Hong Kong, is a role model for youths today. 

“Witnessing and experiencing the response from worldwide audience would in turn be the greatest return a film director could ever ask for. And this is what NAE can do for us, to feel the support given to us from our very homeland, Hong Kong.” — Shared by Riley Leung, director of More than ice-cream Wong Kwong, after attending 11th Beijing Film Academy Awards and the 19th Regensburg Short Film Week, under the sponsorship of NAE.

Malinois Gaze
Director: Ma Chi-hang
Hong Kong | 2014 | 25' | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour 

Security Guard presents on a boring duty repeatedly in a museum, in which exhibiting a creativity of human. He is standing in a white cube and starring at the absurd artwork. He is like a watch dog, Malinois, looking at everyone pass- by. A compliant stimulate his imagination, he was put to write a routine incident report in details. Therefore, a suppressed imagination explodes, like a running wild dog. The security is finally gazing through the wall to a free horizon. 

“After attending the festival, I realised that the independent short films in China are usually student's film or graduation film. Most of the directors set “feature movie” as the standard of career and try hard to seek amount of investment for their first start. This tradition is quite distinct when comparing to Hong Kong. Moreover, mentoring system in is popular in Chinese film industry. The success of the film depends on the stream of the director and their academic background. During the creative process, the involvement of the mentor is quite high, or maybe even more than the director himself. There is no such phenomenon in Hong Kong, in which independent filmmaker own comparatively more autonomy to speak for themselves.” — Shared by Ma Chi-hang, director of Malinois Gaze, after attending 12th China Independent Film Festival in China, under the sponsorship of NAE.

Liu Yang He
Director: Jun Li
Hong Kong | 2016 | 25' | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour

Kah is a sent-down youth during the Cultural Revolution. She is permanently injured in an industrial accident. She married to Hong Kong and later became a sex worker. One day she meets an amputated client, whose family escaped from the Revolution when he was young. They are sympathetic towards each other. 

Hong Kong Arts Centre x Hong Kong Independent Film Festival – Independently Yours: Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down

Venue: Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre

Date: 2020.05.22 – 2020.05.25

Time: 7:45pm

Price: Standard ticket: $80. Tickets are now available at PUTYOURSELF.in. 

Hong Kong Arts Centre is dedicated to cultivating the audience of and fostering the development of Hong Kong indie movies.  “Independently Yours”, 20 years after it was first presented by the HKAC, returns as a recurrent screening programme in the HKAC Cinema. 

Hong Kong Arts Centre x Hong Kong Independent Film Festival

Independently Yours: Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down

Screening Schedule

22/5 (Fri) 7:45pm  Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down* Sold Out

25/5 (Mon) 7:45pm Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down* (Additional screening) BOOK NOW

*With after-screening discussion (conducted in Cantonese).  

The following measures will be implemented for all screenings of Hong Kong Arts Centre x Hong Kong Independent Film Festival – Independently Yours: Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down, to combat the prevailing threat of Novel Coronavirus:
– All audience must wear face masks
– Cinema staff have the right to deny the admission of any person with temperature higher than 37.5°C

Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down

Directors: Leung Ming Kai, Kate Reilly

Cast: Leong Cheok Mei, Mia Mungil, Zeno Koo, Lam Yiu Sing, Gregory Wong, Kate Reilly, Jessica Lam Sin-tung

Hong Kong | 2019 | 77′ | In Cantonese and English with Chinese and English subtitles | DCP | Colour 

22/5 (Fri) 7:45pm*
*Directors Leung Ming Kai and Kate Reilly will attend the after-screening discussion (conducted in Cantonese).  

Bittersweet stories of Hong Kongers contending with nostalgia and an uncertain future give way to a comical documentary assault on sentiment.  Two immigrant Hong Kong women – one from mainland China, one from Indonesia – live together in a little village. Together, they undertake an epic journey to the big city. Brothers return to their working-class neighborhood for one last hangout in their mother's toy store. With new responsibilities looming, they take refuge in childhood memories.  A local economics teacher and a “native English-speaking teacher” from the States spend one school year crisscrossing Hong Kong. As they say goodbye, they recall their earnest contemplation of after-school snacks.  A young barista and music-video star puts aside her many interests to run for district council. She fights both a pro-establishment incumbent and her own disdain for human interaction.

Independently Yours – May

Venue: Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre

Date: 2020.05.20 – 2020.05.24

Time: 19:45

Price: Standard ticket: $80. Tickets are now available at PUTYOURSELF.in.  

Hong Kong Arts Centre is dedicated to cultivating the audience of and fostering the development of Hong Kong indie movies.  “Independently Yours”, 20 years after it was first presented by the HKAC, returns as a recurrent screening programme in the HKAC Cinema. 

Screening Schedule:

20/5 (Wed) 7:45pm   Together We Stand: The Time of the Individual, Comrades, Trial and Error, Not One Less & In Want of a Mask*

21/5 (Thu) 7:45pm    Taking back the Legislature + Inside the Red Brick Wall*

23/5 (Sat) 7:45pm     Together We Stand: The Time of the Individual, Comrades, Trial and Error, Not One Less & In Want of a Mask*

24/5 (Sun) 7:45pm    Taking back the Legislature + Inside the Red Brick Wall*

*With after-screening discussion (conducted in Cantonese)

To prevent Novel Coronavirus, the following measures will be implemented for all Independently Yours – May screenings :
– All audience must wear face masks
– Cinema staff have the right to deny the admission of any person with temperature higher than 37.5°C or without wearing face masks   

Independently Yours: Together We Stand (total duration: 71 min)

A selection of 5 short films: The Time of Individual, Comrades, Trial and Error, Not One Less and In Want of a Mask.
20/5 (Wed) 7:45pm* 

23/5 (Sat) 7:45pm*

*with after screening discussion (conducted in Cantonese). 

The Time of the Individual

Director: Kanas LiuHong Kong | 2019 | 13' | In Cantonese, Putonghua with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour

A documentary short about the Anti–Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) movement, director Kansas Liu shows her unyielding rage against the state machine once again after the previously released Van Drivers (2015). The Time of the Individual was shot on July 7, 2019 during the Tsim Sa Tsui protest. It documented the protesters promoting their cause to Mainland Chinese tourists. Suddenly, the peaceful protest has become the open arena to explore the tension between China and Hong Kong. Yelling protest slogans in Putonghua has become quite a twisted sight in these times.

Hong Kong Award (Shorts), Hong Kong International Documentary Festival 2019

Comrades

Director: Kanas Liu

Hong Kong | 2019 | 15' | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour

Another documentary short about the Anti-ELAB movement, Comrades refers to the brothers and sisters in arms during these difficult months. The clash at Western District on July 28, 2019 might have been pushed aside by other bigger incidents, but it gives us a glimpse into how frontline comrades getting acquainted with each other as they make plans for action. Every disagreement and every persuasion is an act of living. These comrades are simultaneously strangers and intimate. They disagree yet they are also united. At the time, they could still retreat via the MTR and get to know each other on the train platform.

Trial and Error

Director: Kanas Liu

Hong Kong | 2019 | 12' | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour

 The third Anti-ELAB documentary short in this series takes us to the airport occupation on August 12, 2019. Though this new form of protest turns into a crisis quickly, it is an important lesson for the protesters. Compared to the tension inside the airport terminal, the long walk home on the Lantau highway at the time of sunset feels like a reminiscence of a field trip.

Not One Less

Director: Kanas Liu, Sam Tsang

Hong Kong | 2019 | 15' | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour

The fourth documentary of this Anti-ELAB series marks the 100-day anniversary of the movement, when the grim reality of arrests and injuries adds to the count everyday. Although the film starts with the situation at Hong Kong Island on August 31, 2019, it slyly conceals the important event and focuses on the “daily life” of the frontline protesters instead. Their somber and dejected mood is increasingly apparent. Not One Less applies not only to their demands, but also the lives of comrades.

In Want of a Mask

Director: Sam Tsang

Hong Kong | 2020 | 15' | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour 

The COVID-19 exploded in China. Thousands of people from the mainland rushed to Hong Kong that made the people panic. The supply of the face masks cannot meet the demand. Some non-governmental organisations distributed face masks to the elderly in early February that attracted lots of the people to queue up and buy.

Taking back the Legislature + Inside the Red Brick Wall (total duration is 115 min)

21/5 (Thu) 7:45pm*

24/5 (Sun) 7:45pm*

*with after-screening discussion (conducted in Cantonese).

Taking back the Legislature

Directors: Hong Kong Documentary Filmmakers

Hong Kong | 2019 | 44' | In Cantonese, Putonghua with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour  

After a night of planning and mourning, a storm is brewing at early hours of July 1, 2019. Taking back the Legislature primarily focuses on a group of protesters putting their lives on the lines and dedicated documentary filmmakers. In face of the absurdity of the government's indoor flag ceremony, protesters question the usefulness of peaceful protest and hope to storm the Legislative Council Complex as a last ditch effort to ignite change in the movement. As they confront pro-democracy councilors outside the complex, their pent-up anger and despair explode. Due to the police's decision to leave the building defenseless, the group successfully takes back the Legislative Council Complex momentarily and reads out their declaration. Though history has warned of futility in occupied space, violent street clashes continue deep into the night even after the group has retreated. The combat mentality has already taken root in the people's heart and they shall not give up anymore.

Inside the Red Brick Wall

Directors: Hong Kong Documentary FilmmakersHong Kong | 2019 | 70' | In Cantonese, Putonghua with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour 

The Anti-ELAB movement comes to a most horrifying peak in mid-November at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. When protesters call for a citywide strike and road blockage, police chooses to disperse the protesters who were blocking the Cross-Harbor Tunnel. Many of the protesters retreat to the Polytechnic University while police completely puts the school in a lockdown by completely surrounding the area. Anxious citizens want to help but can barely go near the campus. Meanwhile, within those red brick walls, the camera captures a campus shrouded in darkness and horror. Besides trying to leave or hide, the only thing they can do is wait. Like all of Hong Kong living under a totalitarian regime, how could the trapped ones, the protesters and Hong Kongers come out alive?

About the author

Rhythm Zaveri

Hello, my name is Rhythm Zaveri. For as long as I can remember, I've been watching movies, but my introduction to Asian cinema was old rental VHS copies of Bruce Lee films and some Shaw Bros. martial arts extravaganzas. But my interest in the cinema of the region really deepened when I was at university and got access to a massive range of VHS and DVDs of classic Japanese and Chinese titles in the library, and there has been no turning back since.

An avid collector of physical media, I would say Korean cinema really is my first choice, but I'll watch anything that is south-east Asian. I started contributing to Asian Movie Pulse in 2018 to share my love for Asian cinema in the form of my writings.

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