Programme
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To ease navigation, our programmers divide the film programme into four sections with each their unique tone. Filter by section or read more.
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Bright Future
Our main competitions and tomorrow’s film talent
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Voices
Celebrating great storytelling and bold cinema
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Deep Focus
Retrospectives, film art and an in-depth look at filmmaking
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Perspectives
Explore this year's theme programmes
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Age of Valiant
Willis Ho, Lo Chun-yip IFFR 2020 11′HK's valiant 'frontliners' are masked, black-clad youth unafraid to use violence against their police and government. Hear their voices, hopes, and dreams.
HK's valiant 'frontliners' are masked, black-clad youth unafraid to use violence against their police and government. Hear their voices, hopes, and dreams.
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Cageman
Jacob Cheung IFFR 2020 145′A social critique of class-based ultra-dense living conditions; a political critique of anti-democratic politics; and a masterpiece of Hong Kong cinema.
Cageman is focused social critique of a city beset with an outrageous income and wealth gap: a microcosm of Hong Kong's class-based ultra-dense living conditions; a political critique of anti-democratic politics; and an example of brilliant filmmaking, writing, cinematography, and performance. A masterpiece of Hong Kong cinema.
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The Cube Phantom
Alan Lau IFFR 2020 73′A unique, virtually wordless dance poem: a thrilling pop/art tribute to the power of Hong Kong's indomitable people.
A unique, virtually wordless dance poem that explores the exultation and the tragedy of the city in ten site-specific sequences. Filmmaker Alan Lau, choreographer Jordann de Santis, composer Anthony Cheng and a troupe of fearless dancers have created a thrilling pop/art tribute to the power of Hong Kong's indomitable people.
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The Delinquent
Chang Cheh IFFR 2020 101′Gloriously excessive action film with social realism! A young fighter is forced to betray his father in this extraordinary Shaw Brothers production.
Shaw Brothers action with social realism! A young fighter is forced by a plutocratic boss to betray his father in this extraordinary production. Featuring on-location shooting in Hong Kong's poorest neighbourhoods, Kuei's gloriously excessive, always entertaining action film reveals a complicated engagement with underlying social issues.
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Eye Bags
Jun Ho Wai-kwan IFFR 2020 5′An insomniac woman discovers that the particularly large bags under her eyes have become an attractive home for A Gum, a goldfish with a thing for Brad Pitt.
An insomniac woman discovers that the particularly large bags under her eyes have become an attractive home for A Gum, a goldfish with a thing for Brad Pitt.
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From the Queen to the Chief Executive
Herman Yau IFFR 2020 106′In 1985, Cheung was convicted of murder as a juvenile with an indefinite sentence. Idealists fight for his rights as HK approaches 1997.
This political drama highlights social action during Hong Kong's 1997 transition. In 1985, the perpetrators of a gruesome double murder were convicted as juveniles and sentenced to indefinite terms ('at her Majesty's pleasure'). Idealistic councillor Leung and his Chinese colleague Yueling fight for the rights of young prisoner Cheung as HK approaches 1997.
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Gangs
Lawrence Lau IFFR 2020 98′A searing portrayal of marginalised, underclass Hong Kong youth raging in a city under British colonial rule.
A group of desperate kids, marginalized and violently out of control, are holed up in a squalid Hong Kong tenement. Cops are a dimly perceived alien force, to be avoided at all costs. It's not 2019, but 1988 in this searing portrayal of underclass Hong Kong youth raging in a city under British colonial rule.
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Glory to Hong Kong (canto)
IFFR 2020 2′A remixed version of the popular Hong Kong resistance anthem in Cantonese opera style. Local traditional and contemporary culture in brilliant fusion.
A remixed version of the popular Hong Kong resistance anthem in Cantonese opera style. Local traditional and contemporary culture in brilliant fusion.
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Glory to Hong Kong (orchestral)
IFFR 2020 3′The original video by the Black Blorchestra of the crowd-sourced people's resistance anthem of Hong Kong.
The original video by the Black Blorchestra of the crowd-sourced people's resistance anthem of Hong Kong.
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Home, and a Distant Archive
Dorothy Cheung Tsz-yan IFFR 2020 24′Cinema decodes history in this elegant, experimental portrait of four Hong Kong women working on their city's archives in London.
Cinema decodes history in this elegant, experimental portrait of four Hong Kong women working on their city's archives in London.
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If We Burn
James Leong, Lynn Lee IFFR 2020 90′The Hong Kong protest movement through the eyes of Hong Kongers whose fates, like their city's future, now hang in the balance.
The Hong Kong protest movement through the eyes of Hong Kongers whose fates, like their city's future, now hang in the balance. James Leong and Lynn Lee seem always exactly in the right place and the right time: their cinematic eyes for indelible, strangely beautiful images of a city wracked by violence makes this essential viewing.
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Kin's Hair
Chang See-wan, Chan Kwun-chung IFFR 2020 6′Hong Kong's story is a history of loss, embodied (or rather disembodied) in the hairs on Kin's head, which fall out one by one.
Hong Kong's story is a history of loss, embodied (or rather disembodied) in the hairs on Kin's head, which fall out one by one.
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Last Night in Sham Shui Po
Andrew Lang IFFR 2020 3′Protestors, cops, a night street in Sham Shui Po, a single slow-motion take, plus Louis Armstrong.
Protestors, cops, a night street in Sham Shui Po, a single slow-motion take, plus Louis Armstrong.
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Long Arm of the Law
Johnny Mak IFFR 2020 100′Six PLA veterans rob a Hong Kong jewelry store in this still-shocking masterpiece of Hong Kong New Wave.
Six PLA veterans rob a Hong Kong jewelry store in this still-shocking masterpiece of Hong Kong New Wave. They wreak spectacular violence in a series of set pieces: a thrilling car chase, a murder at a skating rink, and a climactic ultra-violent confrontation as they are besieged in the infamous Kowloon Walled City.
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Lost in the Fumes
Nora Lam IFFR 2020 93′Riveting portrait of Edward Leung, whose slogan 'Reclaim Hong Kong; revolution of our time' is the rallying cry of the protest movement.
Nora Lam's riveting, sometimes unsettling portrait of radical activist Edward Leung is eerily prophetic. Leung became famous in 2015 at the age of 25, when his political party, Hong Kong Indigenous, advocated independence. His slogan 'Reclaim Hong Kong; revolution of our time', too radical then, has by 2019 become the rallying cry of the HK protest movement.
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Made in Hong Kong
Fruit Chan IFFR 2020 109′HK 1997, where young people dream of death. Presaging the spirit of militant, self-sacrificing HK youth we see today, re-incarnated as political resistance.
HK 1997, where young people dream of death. Moon is a cynical young debt collector, smitten by Ping, a young woman dying of kidney disease. A stranger's suicide note intertwines their fates. The result enshrines the spirit of militant, self-sacrificing HK youth that we see today, re-incarnated as political resistance.
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Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down
Leung Ming-kai, Kate Reilly IFFR 2020 78′Four stories show how fiction and fact, humour and drama, personal and political are complementary facets of the contradictory realities that constitute Hong Kong today.
Four stories together show how fiction and fact, humour and drama, the personal and political are complementary facets of the same fascinating realities that constitute Hong Kong. Leung Ming-kai and Kate Reilly's structural gambit delights and gently provokes, as their film plumbs the contradictions that underlie and activate Hong Kong's predicament today.
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Ordinary Heroes
Ann Hui IFFR 2020 128′Director Ann Hui develops interlocking stories of several activists and HKers in the 1980s, building subdued melodrama to a shattering climax.
In this ambitious film, Ann Hui develops interlocking stories of several activists and HKers in the 1980s. Superb local actors Anthony Wong, Rachel Lee, Lee Kang-sheng and Tse Kwan-ho play respectively a Marxist priest, social workers/activists and a calculating politician. Hui knows how to build subdued melodrama to a shattering climax.
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Rehearsal of the Futures: Police Training Exercises
Isaac Chong Wai IFFR 2020 18′Dancers perform the violent gestures of military riot police in slow motion, and the result is somehow inappropriately beautiful.
Dancers perform the violent gestures of military riot police in slow motion, and the result is somehow inappropriately beautiful.
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Serial Parallels
Max Hattler IFFR 2020 9′Hong Kong's distinctively shaped housing blocks form mesmerizing patterns that appear to move in this dazzling, subliminally subversive dance of images.
Hong Kong's distinctively shaped housing blocks form mesmerizing patterns that appear to move in this dazzling, subliminally subversive dance of images.
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Talk: Ordinary Heroes
IFFR 2020A panel discussion with Hong Kong filmmakers whose new works respond to Hong Kong's political turmoil with artistry and courage.
This panel discussion brings together Hong Kong filmmakers whose new works respond to the territory's struggle in cinematic language, giving us urgent reports from the ground and helping us understand the struggle today. They represent Hong Kong cinematic creativity across genres: documentary, feature fiction, and short and experimental film.
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Tell Me What 7 You Say
HK Journalists IFFR 2020 4′Pop star Charmaine Fong's catchy, searingly angry protest song was released during the demonstrations: profane and politically risky.
Pop star Charmaine Fong's catchy, searingly angry protest song was released during the demonstrations: profane and politically risky.
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Ten Years
Jevons Au, Chow Kwun-wai, Kwok Zune, Ng Ka-leung, Wong Fei-pang IFFR 2020 104′Five shorts by young directors asked to imagine, in 2015, what their city might look like ten years later. Surprisingly prophetic.
Five short films by five young directors who were invited to imagine, in 2015, what their city might look like ten years later. Little did they know how prophetic this exercise in imaginative dystopian filmmaking would be. Ten Years struggled to be released in Hong Kong, but won best film at the HK Film Awards in 2016.
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We Have Boots
Evans Chan IFFR 2020 130′The Umbrella Movement of 2014 paved the way for Hong Kong's current upheavals. Intellectuals, students, activists, and artists articulate a variety of motivations.
The Umbrella Movement of 2014 paved the way for Hong Kong's current upheavals, while unfolding in significantly different ways. This documentary focuses on the intellectual underpinnings of the actions of 2014: engaged intellectuals, students, activists, and artists articulate a range of philosophies, motivations, and feelings about their movement.
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What's Next
Willis Wong Man-chak IFFR 2020 16′An idealistic democrat faces off against a triad-aligned local politician in a compact, sophisticate drama based on a real Hong Kong 2019 incident.
An idealistic democrat faces off against a triad-aligned local politician in a compact, sophisticate drama based on a real Hong Kong 2019 incident.
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What's Next?
IFFR 2020What's Next for Hong Kong? Local filmmakers, musicians and artists make art that makes politics: with music videos, animation, on-the-ground reports, short fiction and other experiments.
What's Next for Hong Kong? Local filmmakers, musicians and artists make art that makes politics: with music videos, animation, on-the-ground reports, short fiction and other experiments.
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Yellowing
Chan Tze-woon IFFR 2020 133′An artful document of 'the real', centred on portraits of students who organised a temporary cooperative and communitarian Hong Kong.
The turmoil that has overtaken Hong Kong since 1997 spawned a new generation of passionately committed activist filmmakers, including Chan Tze-woon. Yellowing is an artful document of 'the real', centred on portraits of students who organized a temporary cooperative and communitarian Hong Kong. Chan shows how cinema captures an alternative world, illuminated by passionate idealism.