Following our season Celebrating Ann Hui in June 2024, we present the first ever comprehensive UK season dedicated to the Hong Kong New Wave, supported by the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office London.
Often mentioned, but rarely explored, the Hong Kong New Wave was an influential cinematic movement beginning in the late 1970s and continuing through the 80s and 90s. Not only did it shape contemporary Hong Kong cinema, but the movement is inextricably linked to New Taiwanese Cinema and, less directly, to mainland China’s Fifth Generation filmmaking.
This resulted in an incredibly rich, exciting, and diverse body of work, and launched the careers of directors such as Ann Hui, Patrick Tam, and Tsui Hark, many of whose key New Wave films have never screened before in the UK. Taking place this spring, the programme will showcase 10 of the finest films from different key New Wave directors between 1979-1989, charting the first stage of the movement.
The legendary filmmaker – and the only woman director in the early years of the New Wave – Ann Hui will be at the cinema in person for two Q&As exploring her prolific and still active filmmaking career. Hui will be discussing one of her Vietnam Trilogy films, The Story of Woo Viet (1981), and the first of her literature adaptations, Love in a Fallen City (1984). Her humanistic take on the plight of Vietnamese refugees, Boat People (1982), will also be shown. As a joint presentation with her alma mater London Film School and King’s College London, a free masterclass session, Ann Hui in Conversation, will be held on 17 April at KCL.
From Tsui Hark, we’re presenting the digital restoration of his breathlessly creative directorial debut, The Butterfly Murders (1979). This deconstructed wuxia masterpiece features a dizzying array of cinematic nods to films such as Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Hark’s controversially anarchic third feature, Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (1980), now finally restored to its full glory for the big screen, will have the UK premiere of the 2K version.
The new restoration of Patrick Tam’s 1982 classic Nomad will be screened in tribute to the iconic Hong Kong actor and singer Leslie Cheung, and opens the season on 1 April. Meanwhile, closing the season will be the UK premiere of the 2K restoration of Tam’s stunningly dreamy neo-noir My Heart is That Eternal Rose (1989).
Although the Hong Kong New Wave is seen as a male-dominated movement, this season aims to shine a light on female voices and stories. Eddie Fong’s debut An Amorous Woman of Tang Dynasty (1984) is a fiercely feminist and powerful tale of desire and rebellion against a backdrop of sensual visual poetry. Allen Fong’s Ah Ying (1983) takes a realistic approach to a generational portrait of women in 1980s Hong Kong, based on the autobiographical story of lead actress Hui So-Ying. It will be screened in the UK premiere of the newly restored version. New Wave pioneer Yim Ho’s thoughtful Homecoming (1984) mirrors Hong Kong’s increasing anxiety towards an uncertain future in the wake of the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, through vividly depicting a woman’s emotional struggle between city life in Hong Kong and her small village hometown in Canton.
The first screening of each film in the programme will be accompanied by a pre-screening introduction, or post-screening Q&A or discussion. Additionally, the panel discussion What is the Hong Kong New Wave? will be held on 19 April, giving audiences the chance to gain a deeper understanding of the context of this movement.
