The 20th edition of the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival, which will be held from October 13-November 12 at cinemas across the city, will feature 95 films from the region. The biggest draws of the month-long event will be Hong Kong premieres of Cannes and Venice film festival movies, as well as masterclasses with Cannes best actor winner Koji Yakusho and Korean superstar Song Kang-ho.
The festival will kick off with a screening of Cobweb, which stars Song and is directed by frequent collaborator Kim Jee-woon. The 1970s-set black comedy is about a filmmaker’s obsession with bringing his masterpiece to fruition. The festival will celebrate the duo’s previous body of work by screening four of their films: The Quiet Family (1998), The Foul King (2000), The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008), and The Age of Shadows (2016).
Another noteworthy film that will be showcased at the festival is Tiger Stripes, the first film directed by a female Malaysian to have its debut at Cannes, which also won the festival’s Critics Week grand prize. Abang Adik, another Malaysian film and winner of the best film award at New York Asian Film Festival, will tell Hong Kong audiences a story of two abandoned orphans whose lives are turned upside down after a tragic accident.
In Broad Daylight is a Hong Kong offering that tells the story of a young reporter who goes undercover at a home for the disabled to dig into charges of abuse by staff. The festival roster also features Japanese films such as the screwball time-travel comedy River, the drama Evil Does Not Exist, and Perfect Days, the film for which Koji Yakusho won the best actor prize at Cannes this year.
For the full Hong Kong Asian Film Festival line-up and schedule, visit the event website.
Header image credits: Hong Kong Asian Film Festival
