Highlights of the 49th Hong Kong International Film Festival
One of the oldest film festivals in Asia, the Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) returns for its 49th edition from 10 to 21 April. The 12-day festival will feature more than 300 screenings across the city, including six world premieres, two international premieres and 52 Asian premieres.
HKIFF49 will open with the world premiere of Nakashima Tetsuya’s family drama The Brightest Sun, alongside Pavane for an Infant, directed by Malaysian filmmaker Chong Keat-aun. It will conclude on 21 April with Dream (Sex Love), directed by Dag Johan Haugerud, winner of the Golden Bear for Best Film at the last Berlinale.
Following Karena Lam’s footsteps, this year’s festival ambassador is model and actress Angela Yuen, nominated at the 59th Golden Horse Awards in 2022 and the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards in 2023 for the drama movie The Narrow Road (2022).
HKIFF49 will honour multi-award-winning film star Louis Koo as this year’s Filmmaker in Focus. As a tribute to Koo’s contribution to Hong Kong cinema, the festival will showcase ten of his most influential works. The movie star will be present to meet the audience and share his insights and vision.
Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel in Megalopolis (2024)
The eclectic movies selection ranges from Megalopolis (2024) by legendary Francis Ford Coppola starring Adam Driver, and I’m Still Here by Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles who just won the Oscar for Best International Feature, to Kneecap (2024) by Rich Peppiatt, featuring Irish-language rap trio Kneecap, or Valley of the Shadow of Death (2024) by Hong Kong filmmakers Jeffrey Lam Sen and Antonio Tam.
Alongside contemporary movies, HKIFF49 will also celebrate the glory of timeless cinema by presenting eight restored masterpieces, ranging from American silent classics and Japanese epic masterpieces to Czech New Wave satires and French poetic realism: The Wind (1928) by Victor Sjöström, Man’s Castle (1933) by Frank Borzage, Pépé le Moko (1937) by Julien Duvivier, Seven Samurai (1954) by Kurosawa Akira, Murdering the Devil (1970) by Ester Krumbachová, Bona (1980) by Lino Brocka, Tasio (1984) by Montxo Armendariz and The Sweet Hereafter (1997) by Atom Egoyan.
Seven Samurai (1954)
Movie aficionados will be in for a treat with the presence of renowned international filmmakers and actors such as Leos Carax, Albert Serra, Juho Kuosmanen and Ando Sakura who will present their works and interact with the audience.
Ando Sakura, one of Japan’s most celebrated contemporary actresses, will talk about her performance in her latest film, Bad Lands, alongside three seminal works on the big screen.
Acclaimed French auteur Leos Carax will share his artistic vision in the popular Meet the Filmmaker series and present his latest work, It’s Not Me, along with three of his films.
Sakura Ando in 100 Yen Love (2014)
The festival will welcome Albert Serra, filmmaker and artist from Catalonia who will present his latest documentary, Afternoons of Solitude, and share his artistic vision through a masterclass. The festival will also showcase a retrospective of his films.
Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen will also be present on the Meet the Filmmaker series, presenting his latest film, Silent Trilogy, and sharing his film philosophy and artistic vision with the audience.
The complete HKIFF49 programmes and screenings schedule are available on HKIFF‘s website: www.hkiff.org.hk