Discoveries from Hong Kong SAR China World Cinema

To Catch a Murderer

A man and his wife, who worked as a teacher, were framed and the man died in a fire, while the woman was forced to throw herself into a well. After his death, the teacher's spirit is still alive and he turns into a horrible corpse, hiding in an old house and appearing on stormy nights, giving people the chills. The corpse has been waiting for revenge for 20 years and finally kills the original murderer.

Kwong Shan-siu as a playboy who sweet-talks Leong Suet-fei into a romance with him. She becomes pregnant but discovers that Kwong is nothing more than a cad who has already put her at the back of his mind.

Agnes and Qing are Hong Kong's representative rhythmic swimming athletes. They have swept the pairs event awards since childhood. Unexpectedly, an epidemic brought the world to a standstill and caused a sudden change in their relationship. Agnes found that she had different emotions and could not get rid of the desire for Qing's body. To escape her desire, she even had sex with her pursuer Amin. As her life becomes more chaotic, she is deprived of her qualifications for the main election. Watching Qing practice a pas de deux with others, Agnes becomes jealous and discovers that she not only did not love Amin, she didn't enjoy sex with him. Agnes returned to practice, hoping to regain her body pride, but without a swimming pool and close friends, she couldn't dance the pas de deux. When they were unable to jump down, Qing appeared like a gift, and the two climbed into the pool without water.

Distressed by the number of cases of an unknown disease, a doctor meets a French journalist. The ensuing epidemic resulting in them both being isolated together.

Ma and Sze are buddies from the same school. Sze, who is bullied by Jaa, a tough guy from another class, urges Ma to take revenge on Jaa for him. Meanwhile, Jaa and his gang continue to bully Ming, the weakling of the group, by stripping him naked in front of the whole class...

Hong Kong and Taiwan are 2 islands inextricably linked by their huge neighbour. Modern metropolises full of eastern traditions, they're forging forward in the 21st century as China's little dragons. Traveller Megan McCormick begins her journey in Hong Kong, looking out at the incredible skyline from Victoria Peak. She then takes in the contrasts of the city before taking the ferry visit Tap Mum Chau and Lantau Island. After a flight to Taiwan she explores the capital Taipei, ending her trip with a visit to its most remote outpost - Orchid Island.

Three provincial girls departed for Beijing. Yu Quin works as a hostess in a night-club, leaving her two-year-old daughter in someone else's care. Hu Jin is a bit part player and runway model. Zun Ji worked as a dancer in a discotheque, but returned to her hometown after she became a drug addict.

Shenyang, in deep winter snow. Two promising 12-year-old Beijing opera students, Dong (‘winter’ in Chinese) and Nuannuan (literally meaning ‘warmth’) are practising their stage moves diligently and fervently in order to secure their place in an upcoming performance in the capital. Nuannuan has a crush on Dong but Dong is lost in a daze – of a muted longing for his dead mother and a nameless affection for the girl’s young aunt – which unfolds in the juxtaposing scenes of a lone balloon drifting away and a colourful kite soaring into the sky. The train is soon to leave for Beijing, a fond farewell has been bided. Dong has to make his journey, with or without Nuannuan.

The Kindhearted and Bitter

A cultural worker turned farmer extols the healing power of nature, a sea-diving model tackles marine pollution, a wildlife buff practises ‘wellness photography’, and a real estate agent channels his love of birds into paintings.

Will I stay or will I leave this room that has felt the best? A brief first-hand account of my darker days in depression, journeying through my tangled thoughts to the exit.

After releasing the album Wake Up Dreaming in late 2014, Jacky Cheung held a small concert at Beijing's National Olympic Sports Center on May 24, 2015. The Wake Up Dreaming Concert only hosted 8,000 audience members at the venue, while its livestream accumulated 50 million views. The concert is now released as a live video album featuring the pop king's impeccable performances of the songs on Wake Up Dreaming and other select hits and medleys.

Also known as Hong Kong.

For photographer Zou Qiao, Golfville and the behemoth-like golf course nearby are bizarre and unforgettable. He never expects that the hotel owner’s daughter is so pretty. Neither does he expect that he will be involved in a murder case. He is going everywhere with his camera, shooting birds, women, hands washing golf balls, and glitter of broken glass. Yet he grows more and more confused.

Panning from a tour guide testing his microphone, to tourists deciding on a cafe, to a camera operator hurriedly scouting for locations, this comedic single-take filmed from a rooftop in Kowloon City, Hong Kong, moves between rehearsed, reenacted, real, and all the way back again. Who’s watching who, and if everyone is both watching and performing, who gets to frame the truth?

In 2011, Alison Chow participated in the 38th Berlin Marathon. She finished the marathon in 2 hours 49 minutes and 57 seconds, 7 minutes slower than the Olympics entry requirement, thus the name of this documentary, Breaking 7. Alison gave up on her stable teaching job and left her comfort zone at the age of almost 30 just to follow her dream. She went through countless challenges with her coach, good friends and family, and was further inspired in life.

A sweet and daring portrait of blurred sexuality and love complications, this independent feature tells the story of Dennis and Aggie, pals since primary school and roommates for five years. He works in a painting studio while she’s a photographer and aspiring filmmaker. Both are gay, but inseparable as friends. Matters become tense, however, when Dennis announces an arranged marriage and Aggie finds herself increasingly jealous.

A beautiful and talented accountant has not adapted well to the domestic life after marriage. Both she and her husband feel that married life is nowhere near as interesting as being single. Their fights lead her to move to a women’s dormitory.

Hong Kong Triad enforcers raped a young woman and left her for dead. But Sally survived and, thanks to a chance encounter with a firearms instructor, she transformed from a defenceless girl into a deadly assassin—a fearsome executioner. With a gun in her hand and under the guise of a flirtatious beauty, she declares war on the Triad.

A Russian KGB backed rebel group is attacking villages outside of Bangkok. They want to overthrow the government. The U. S. responds by sending CIA agents to help back a Bangkok special forces unit to fight the rebels.

A photo journalist's quest for precision can go so far that it is hard to tell whether the human has become a machine or the machine has acquired a desire of its own. Cheung and his beloved Leica managed to captured a moment between life and death; the gaze from the subject haunts Cheung so much that he loses the strength to take another photo. Based on the true story of the famous photo journalist Mr. Lam Kai Cheung, The Decisive Moment reconstructs his life aided by interviews of his colleagues. The intriguing relationship between the object and the subject is brought forth for philosophical reflection.

Forced to wear dresses and behave in a certain way against her will at her stepfather’s dinners, 13-year-old Ling meets Kitty, a rebellious 17-year-old, and is fascinated by the older girl who seems unfettered by any rule. As the two girls become close, Ling experiences a sexual awakening and wants to play the role of Kitty’s keeper. But things get complicated when Kitty’s former boyfriend appears on the scene. Full of angst, this coming-of-age story traverses the painful rites of passage of adolescent loneliness and sexual longing. The black sheep hark back to all the pure yet misunderstood selves we used to be.

It's based on an urban myth – drug abuse during pregnancy results in green fetuses. Jade is pregnant. This film follows her one-day psychological journey in experiencing life and death, guilt and forgiveness.

To the group of homeless people living under a bridge in Sham Shui Po, daily life involves coping with strange stares cast by passersby and dodging the frequent raids by the government. Fortunately, a group of volunteers led by a local pastor show them there are still some who care and are willing to lend a helping hand.

A mysterious figure posing as Sun Wukong causes chaos in the Water Curtain Cave, humiliates He Xiangu, and confuses Liu Yaojin, the lady of the Liu family. The immortals attempt to subdue the troublemaker with spells but fail repeatedly. As celestial tensions rise, the Jade Emperor steps in to investigate. With help from Tang Sanzang, the truth begins to unfold.

Fang met his dream-girl Xia in the show for the Coming-of-age Ceremony. Xia is beautiful but carries a 'bad' name when it comes to affairs. He also realized that his buddy Han and the female class perfect Li has special feeling for himself. As if life is not complicated enough, pressure from College Entrance Examination push these four interrelated young souls further into diverse path of life…

The Occupy Central movement called for civil disobedience in the middle of Hong Kong’s financial district, in pursuit of democratic elections. The movement attracted many sympathetic students and citizens, and became known around the world as the “Umbrella Revolution” in 2014. This film closely follows the action on the ground: debates within the movement, street speeches, the unofficial referendum which was held as part of the campaign, and the student-led protests at the Central Government Office. It examines the tumultuous thoughts and feelings of seven activists who were there at the heart of the struggle.

Wai and Na have always been the good Christian couples in others' eyes and they are finally getting married soon. However, an unplanned pregnancy drags the two Christians into the dilemma of human nature... Years after tying the knot, Na is pregnant again and this time they have another difficult decision to make. Two lives, two decisions, all depended on whether they were more afraid of god, or of human.

We enjoy the adrenaline rush given by horror films. But what if we are personally involved in the horror? Director Chun has created a ghost story based on a real case with a dancer murdered, incorporating all marketable ideas like women, supernatural forces and violence. Successfully he persuades the boss to invest in his horror, but there is one “little” requirement – in order to pass the Mainland censorship, no ghost can be presented in the ghost story. So keen to make it work, Chun compromises. While he starts to change the script, an unexpected visitor shows up and leads him to a special journey. A film depicting the bittersweet life of film workers.

Meshed plays with layers of concrete textures, exposing meshes of geometric transformation. Composed of photographic stop motion sequences captured at West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong, this film focuses on the surfaces of architectural buildings. Through this intimate account, the work fundamentally questions the underpinnings of our physical world.

Choi Yuen Village faced demolition by the express rail project. In 2009, villagers protested and petitioned, sparking the anti-express rail movement. Despite their efforts, the railway plan was approved in early 2010. Forced to choose between leaving or rebuilding, they opted for the government’s land rehabilitation scheme to create a new village together. With volunteers, they searched for land in Pat Heung and fought to prove their status as farmers. Many outsiders misunderstood, believing the villagers received generous compensation and government help. Yet, it was the villagers’ shared determination and love for their land and way of life that carried them through, even as the once-barren longan trees bloomed again in 2010.

Peter Chow’s 1988 feature focuses on a couple that likes to eat pickles in bed, a man who’s just arrived from Hong Kong (Tomas Hsiung), and a ballet dancer working with kung fu gymnastics.

Tragedy strikes two pairs of lovers and a family, just three days after a happy marriage.

What constitutes a “disadvantaged youth”? Man Hang did have noble and lofty goals for his life after graduation, but they were quickly crushed by the harsh reality of life. Working an unglamorous job at a warehouse along a colleague with autism, Man Hang was bullied by his boss with unreasonable demands. His mind wanders back to his school days especially when he was seated next to Wing Lok, a classmate with autism who was constantly ridiculed and taunted by the class. During reunions, Man Hang and his friends mused on the irony: With all of them having similarly unremarkable careers, are their lives more fulfilling than Wing Lok who could remain true to himself?

Shot over an eight-year period (2007-2015), this documentary film aims to present women’s struggle in the private and public spheres, both in China and Hong Kong. It offers a view into the lives of female factory workers, artists, rights activists, and intellectuals – whom deal with political violence, sexual harassment, online bullying, long-term separation from family, arbitrary treatment by transnational factory management, and/or poverty in their home villages.

Two people cross paths every day but they hardly know each other. A Filipino domestic helper and her Chinese employer's son strike up an unlikely affair, one which forces them to come to terms with their sense of loss and alienation.

A short film about mental health

A missed love with three pairs of men and women.

30 years after 1989, how do witnesses to the June 4th Tiananmen massacre come to terms with their own memories, and how do their memories affect their lives today? At the same time, Hong Kong gradually confronts the explosion of the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement.

Costa Rica, New Zealand, Hong Kong,Hawaii. Through the testimonies of 12 women, the issues of marriage, traditional conventions, being attracted to women and having children are addressed. How to break with traditional patterns, how to accept one's feelings of love when they are are directed towards a person of the same sex? So many serious subjects approached here with lightness. The documentary walks us and takes us towards these women who inevitably speak a little about about us.

The Mermaid Princess of Dongting Lake had the misfortune of marrying ill, her husband being the depraved and tyrannical Prince of Jingchuan, who subjected her to relentless torment. By chance, she encountered the scholar Liu Yi, entrusting him with a blood-stained letter to seek aid from her father, the Dragon King. Ultimately rescued and returned to her maternal home, the Mermaid Princess and Liu Yi transcended the divide between mortal and immortal realms, uniting in a bond of true love.

May Fung's 1989 film Thought IV: The Edge of the World is a collage that responds to the ever-changing world beyond Hong Kong. It features highway shots that recall the exterior views from the taxi in Routine, war reportage, and images of coastal landscapes and stretching bodies. The film represents another generation's aesthetics of self-expression.

Prince Demin of the Ocean Kingdom and Princess Zhang Yabao of the Baoling Kingdom were childhood sweethearts. After Demin abdicated the throne to his elder brother Fengyun, Fengyun's marriage proposal to Baobao was rejected, leading him to wage war. With Demin's help, Baobao overcame dangers and finally found the luminous cup she had lost as a child. With the help of the Cup Fairy, she was able to restore her kingdom. Baobao and Demin merged their two kingdoms into the Ocean Treasure Kingdom, and thereafter celebrated peace and prosperity together.

What’s the price one will pay for one’s beliefs? Chan Siu-yau’s life is forced to a halt after being charged, somewhat belatedly, with unlawful assembly and assaulting a police officer during a demonstration in support of striking dock workers over a year ago. In the eyes of fellow activists, she’s no radical, just a concerned citizen singled out for punishment amid an escalating tug-of-war between law enforcement authorities and rights advocates. While Yau is working her shift in a restaurant, busy taking orders and sorting out dirty dishes, the annual June 4 candlelight vigil takes place in the pelting rain, bodies soaked but high spirits undamped. Having missed her university admission exams with two criminal charges looming over her head, what does the future hold for her? Is she guilty as charged?

"5 cops only in Sham Shui Po tonight!" PC46700 said. In the deep of the night, a police officer was dispatched to an old building where he found a Vietnamese drug addict in a partitioned room. His investigation was inexplicably filmed by a would-be documentarian, which led to a conversation with the police constable recollecting his early days and involvement with the Vietnamese refugees more than twenty years ago. An apparently unrelated group of people had this unexpected encounter when the majority of the police force gathered at Mongkok during the Umbrella Movement.