Trio of festivals highlight Hong Kong films in the U.S.
Celebrating the year 4704, the Year of the Pig, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (HKETONY) co-sponsored three film festivals to showcase a wide selection of Hong Kong films to the U.S. audience.
The annual “Hong Kong!” film festival, organized by the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago and held February 2-28, presented a selection of new films as well as a retrospective of the recent films of Hong Kong director Johnny To.
Mr. To’s latest feature, “Exiled,” was presented at the festival as part of a “Chicago sneak preview premiere.” Since 1980, Mr. To has completed more than 40 features, and the center has shown close to 30 of them over the years. This year’s retrospective offerings also included “Breaking News,” “Election,” “Triad Election,” “Fulltime Killer,” “Running on Karma” and “Throw Down.”
Other Hong Kong films showcased were the award-winning “Isabella,” “49 Days” and “Moonlight in Tokyo.”
The High Museum of Art in Atlanta presented its “Hong Kong Panorama” program, featuring four movies in March. They are “My Name is Fame,” “Jet Li’s Fearless,” “Isabella,” which was a Silver Bear winner at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival, and “Kung Fu Hustle,” which won six Hong Kong Film Awards.
In conjunction with the Harvard Film Archive in Boston, the HKETO(NY) will present “March Rhapsody: Selected Films of Ann Hui” from March 16–21. The film event aims to highlight the accomplishments of director Ann Hui in the Hong Kong film industry and also to promote Hong Kong films in Boston and cultural exchange between the two cities.
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