35th HKIFF: Half a Dozen Hong Kong Film Offerings

The 35th edition of the HKIFF takes place next month and compared to last year, this year’s fest will have a little less local films premiering. In the Hong Kong Panorama section, only six films will be screened, which is half the number of last year’s output. This year, Johnnie To’s Don’t Go Breaking My Heart will be the opening film along with Quattro Hong Kong 2, a sort of the continuation to the last year’s Quattro Hong Kong, which is categorized as a tribute film to the city of Hong Kong. This year’s quartet of filmmakers includes: Apichatpong WEERASETHAKUL, Brillante MENDOZA, HO Yuhang and Stanley KWAN. Here’s more info on the short film project. 

Don’t Go Breaking My Heart is probably one of the most anticipated Johnnie To films in recent years – the romance includes a stellar cast comprised of Louis Koo, Daniel Wu and Chinese actress Gao YuenYuen, playing lonely guys and woman in the office world. The setting reminds us a bit of Needing You… (2000), one of the best romantic films by To. But this one will feature a love triangle as the core storyline.

Other local films to look out for include Hi, Fidelity and Law Wing-Cheong’s Punished. Hi, Fidelity marked the return of both veteran actresses Patricia Ha and Carrie Ng to the big screen after nearly decade off. The film will have them playing middle-aged housewives who desperately seek new excitement and comfort from the company of much younger men. The film looks like a much serious version of Men Suddenly In Black 2 (2006), dealing with the issues of fidelity, marriage and sex, — I look forward to the potential for some “comeback” performances.

Punished, on the other hand, is another Johnnie To’s produced film. The film centers on the role of a tycoon, played by Anthony Wong. He is a tyrant towards his family and staff, and gets punished for it when his daughter gets kidnapped and killed by the abductors.

The festival which kicks off on 21st of March to 6th of April includes festival circuit items dating back to last year’s Sundance Film Festival 2010 (e.g. Animal Kingdom) and fresh items from Berlin (e.g. The Turin Horse). This year’s focus includes: Re-Discovered Masters of Japanese Film: KAWAMOTO Kichachiro and SHIBUYA Minoru, Film Programmes for Romania, Vietnam and the United States, Master Classes with JIA Zhangke Retrospective of Abbas KIAROSTAMI and KUEI Chih-hung and Wai Ka-fai is the 35th Hong Kong International Film Festival Filmmaker in Focus. We’ll be covering the festival this year — look for some dispatches during the festival dates.