Hong Kong Arts Centre: Moving Images announces their May programme, which includes their regular Golden Scene Selection, Independently Yours: Together We Stand and Independently Yours: Taking Back the Legislature + Inside the Red Brick Wall as well as the Hong Kong Arts Centre x Hong Kong Film Festival – Independently Yours: Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down, the delayed February programme which has finally been rescheduled for June.
Golden Scene Selection – June
Venue: Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Date: 2020.06.23 – 2020.06.29
Price: 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 Schedule
23/6 (Tue) 8pm Radioactive (Preview)
24/6 (Wed) 8pm Beyond The Dream (Preview)*
25/6 (Thu) 8pm A Family Tour*
26/6 (Fri) 8pm After the Wedding
27/6 (Sat) 3pm Suk Suk*
27/6 (Sat) 7pm Light of My Life (Preview)
28/6 (Sun) 2:15pm Berlin, I Love You
28/6 (Sun) 4:45pm Light of My Life (Preview)
28/6 (Sun) 8:30pm My Prince Edward*
29/6 (Mon) 8pm Still Human
*With after-screening discussion
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
Radioactive (Preview)
Director: Marjane Satrapi
Casts: Rosamund Pike, Sam Riley, Anya Taylor-Joy, Aneurin Barnard, Simon Russell Beale
United Kingdom | 2019 | 109' | In English with Chinese subtitles | DCP | Colour
23/6 (Tue) 8pm
From the 1870s to the modern era, RADIOACTIVE is a journey through Marie Curie's (Rosamund Pike) enduring legacies – her passionate relationships, scientific breakthroughs, and the consequences that followed for her and for the world. After meeting fellow scientist Pierre Curie (Sam Riley), the pair go on to marry and change the face of science forever by their discovery of radioactivity. The genius of the Curies' world-changing discoveries and the ensuing Nobel Prize propels the devoted couple into the international limelight. From renowned producers, WORKING TITLE (DARKEST HOUR) and Shoebox Films (ATONEMENT), and Academy Award® nominated director, Marjane Satrapi, comes a bold, visionary depiction of the transformative effects and ensuing fallout of the Curie's work and how this shaped the defining moments of the 20th Century.
Beyond The Dream (Preview)
Director: Kiwi Chow
Cast: Terrance Lau, Cecilia Choi
Hong Kong | 2019 | 120' | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | DCP | Colour
24/6 (Wed) 8pm (Preview)*
*Director Kiwi Chow will attend the after-screening talk (conducted in Cantonese).
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.
A Family Tour
Director: Ying Liang
Cast: Gong Zhe, Nai An, Pete Teo
Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia | 2018 |109′ | In Mandarin, Cantonese & Taiwanese with Chinese & English subtitles | DCP | Colour
25/6 (Thu) 8pm*
*Director Ying Liang will attend after-screening discussion (conducted in Putonghua).
“The Mother of One Recluse” was the work of Chinese film director Yang Shu (Gong Zhe) . She made the film five years ago, and in doing so offended the Chinese government. Since then she has been forced to remain in exile in Hong Kong. Her mother (Nai An) who lives in Sichuan has had a relapse of her stomach cancer from years ago, and needs to undergo an operation imminently. She wishes to see her daughter and grandson, having only known the latter via internet chat. Therefore, Yang Shu takes the opportunity of a film festival event to go with her husband (Pete Teo) and son (Tham Xin Yue) to Taiwan to meet her mother, whom they have arranged to meet when the latter is there on a mainland company leisure tour. To ensure this family reunion can take place under the strict control of regulated schedule by the Chinese tour company, the young family checks in to the same hotel, and follows the tour group to the various scenic spots they visit.
After the Wedding
Director: Bart Freundlich
Casts: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Billy Crudup
USA | 2019 | 112' | In English with Chinese subtitles | DCP | Colour
26/6 (Fri) 8pm
As if driven by an inescapable force, Isabel (Michelle Williams) has devoted her life to running an orphanage in a Calcutta slum. With funds running dry, a potential donor, who requires she travel from India to New York, to deliver a presentation in-person, contacts Isabel. At first, balking at the demand of an uncommitted philanthropist, she relents, and travels to a city she deliberately hasn't returned to in over two decades.
Once in New York, Isabel lands uncomfortably in the sites of the orphanage's possible benefactor, Theresa Young (Julianne Moore), a multi-millionaire media mogul. From the glittering skyscraper where she runs her successful business to the glorious Oyster Bay estate, where she lives happily with her artist husband, Oscar Carlson (Billy Crudup), 21-year-old daughter, Grace (Abby Quinn), and eight-year-old twins, Theo and Otto, Theresa's life couldn't appear to be more perfect. But appearances are only skin deep, and Isabel and Theresa have more in common than meets the eye.
While Isabel thinks she'll soon be returning to her beloved orphanage, Theresa has other plans. She insists Isabel attend Grace's wedding at the family's estate. The joyful event becomes a catalyst for a revelation that upends the lives of both women and the people who love them most.
With the same quiet depth and intensity found in Ordinary People and Terms of Endearment, After the Wedding celebrates the complex, transformative power of the most primal of human connections, as well as the ever-expanding definition of what makes a family.
Based on the Academy Award-nominated film by Susanne Bier, After the Wedding.
Suk Suk
Director: Ray Yeung
Cast: Tai Bo, Ben Yuen, Patra Au, Lo Chun-Yip
Hong Kong | 2019 | 92' | In Cantonese with English subtitles | DCP | Colour
27/6 (Sat) 3pm*
*Director Ray Yeung will attend the after-screening talk (conducted in Cantonese).
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.
Light of My Life (Preview)
Director: Casey Affleck
Casts: Anna Pniowsky, Casey Affleck, Tom Bower, and Elisabeth Moss
USA | 2019 | 119' | In English with Chinese subtitles | DCP | Colour
27/6 (Sat) 7pm
28/6 (Sun) 4:45pm
A parent and child journey through the outskirts of society a decade after a pandemic has wiped out half the world's population. As the father struggles to protect his child, their bond — and the character of humanity – is tested.
Berlin, I Love You
Directors: Dianna Agron, Peter Chelsom, Claus Clausen, Fernando Eimbcke, Justin Franklin, Dennis Gansel, Dani Levy, Daniel Lwowski, Stephanie Martin, Josef Rusnak, Til Schweiger, Massy Tadjedin, Gabriela Tscherniak
Casts: Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Jim Sturgess, Mickey Rourke, Diego Luna, Charlotte Le Bon
Germany | 2019 | 119' | English, German (In Parts), Arabic (In Parts) with Chinese, English (In Parts) and German (In Parts) subtitles | DCP | Colour
28/6 (Sun) 2:15pm
BERLIN, I LOVE YOU is the sequel of the successful prequels Paris Je t'aime and New York I Love You. A kaleidoscope of stories about love, tolerance, acceptance and redemption – and of course about Berlin, the hippest city on the planet. Every single segment has its own perspective and its own personal style, woven into the rhythm of this unique city. Like in the prequels we worked with 11 internationally acclaimed directors and 20 Top Hollywood A list actors.
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, supports Cantonese Audio Description | DCP | Colour
28/6 (Sun) 8:30pm*
*Director Norris Wong will attend the after-screening talk (conducted in Cantonese).
“My Prince Edward” supports Cantonese Audio Description, for details, please call 25820248 for further information.
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.
Still Human
Director: Oliver Chan Siu-kuen
Cast: Anthony Wong, Crisel Consunji, Sam Lee, Cecilia Yip, Himmy Wong
Hong Kong | 2018 | 111′ | In Cantonese, Tagalog and English with Chinese and English subtitles, supports Cantonese Audio Description | DCP | Colour
29/6 (Mon) 8pm
“Still Human” supports Cantonese Audio Description, for details, please call 25820248 for further information.
A paralyzed and hopeless divorcé, Cheong-wing (Anthony Wong) is in need of a caretaker. He meets his new live-in Filipino domestic helper, Evelyn (Crisel Consunji), who has put her dream on hold to come to Hong Kong to earn a living. Living under the same roof, these two strangers develop an unlikely relationship. As they get to learn more about each other, they also rediscover themselves – Cheong-wing begins to reconnect with his estranged son; Evelyn reignites her dream of being a photographer. Together, they help each other through ups and downs, twists and turns, love and loss and experience the different seasons of life. Just when they think they have lost all hope, little do they know, life still has a lot to offer.
Independently Yours – June
Venue: Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Date: 2020.06.10 – 2020.06.20
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
10/6 (Wed) 7:45pm Together We Stand* BOOK NOW
11/6 (Thu) 7:45pm Taking back the Legislature & Inside the Red Brick Wall* BOOK NOW
17/6 (Wed) 7:45pm Together We Stand* BOOK NOW
18/6 (Thu) 7:45pm Taking back the Legislature & Inside the Red Brick Wall* BOOK NOW
19/6 (Fri) 7:45pm Taking back the Legislature & Inside the Red Brick Wall* BOOK NOW
20/6 (Sat) 2:15pm Hong Kong Arts Centre x Hong Kong Independent Film Festival – Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down* BOOK NOW
*With after-screening discussion (conducted in Cantonese)
Tickets are now available at PUTYOURSELF.in.
To prevent Novel Coronavirus, the following measures will be implemented for all Independently Yours – June 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
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.
10/6 (Wed) 7:45pm* BOOK NOW
17/6 (Wed) 7:45pm* BOOK NOW
*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
Hong Kong Award (Shorts), Hong Kong International Documentary Festival 2019
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.
Comrades
Director: Kanas Liu
Hong Kong | 2019 | 15' | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour
Generation 14plus, Berlinale 2020
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 2020
Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival 2020 selection
2020 Docs Without Borders Film Festival 2020 selection
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: 115 min)
11/6 (Thu) 7:45pm* BOOK NOW
18/6 (Thu) 7:45pm* BOOK NOW
19/6 (Fri) 7:45pm* BOOK NOW
*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 Filmmakers
Hong 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?
Hong Kong Arts Centre x Hong Kong Independent Film FestivalIndependently Yours: Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down
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
20/6 (Sat) 2:15pm* BOOK NOW
*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.
Tickets are now available at PUTYOURSELF.in.
