The screening on 27 April will be introduced by Dr Ruby Cheung (University of Southampton).

One of the most acclaimed works by Yim Ho, a leading figure of the Hong Kong New Wave, Homecoming is a thoughtful and moving reflection of an increasingly anxious time when the future of the then-colony was being negotiated as part of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed in 1984. Winner of six awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film and Best Director, the film was the first Hong Kong production to be shot entirely on location in the Mainland, giving many audiences their first glimpse of a China which had been closed to the outside world.

The film follows Shan Shan, a young businesswoman who returns to her small village in Guangdong in southern China after becoming exhausted by the pressure and materialistic life in Hong Kong. There she reunites with her childhood friend Ah Zhen, whose life is the opposite of hers, happily married and the headmistress of the local school, though the bond they shared in the past has changed due to the cultural gap that has arisen between them over the years. Exploring the real and imagined differences between the capitalist rat-race of modern Hong Kong and the peaceful and romantic nostalgia of Shan Shan’s Chinese roots, Yim Ho seeks to also find commonality and connection, looking to a shared past as well as an uncertain future.

This screening is in partnership with the Chinese Cinema Project and Focus Hong Kong. Supported by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office London. In Mandarin, Teochew and Cantonese with English subtitles.

Cast:
Josephine Koo, Siqin Gaowa, Wai-hung Tse