In response to the overwhelming requests for tickets, the 42nd Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) announced additional post festival screenings for selected hot picks.

April 6th, 2018 | The Grand Cinema | 8:00 pm

Dragonfly Eyes by Xu Bing – China | 2017 – 81 min.
Section: Kaleidoscope | Poetry in Motion

Where are the found stories in a world of constant surveillance? Installation artist Xu Bing pits this watching world – 10,000 hours of found footage from 28,000 cameras across China uploaded to the cloud – against simple melodrama, young love and fragility. The story is read into an embroidered quilt of clips where time clocks spin at random. Even as we deal with a new narrative, the backgrounds fascinate us with their mosaic of materials already watched.

Trailer:

April 6th, 2018 | The Grand Cinema | 9:45 pm

The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On by Hara Kazuo – Japan | 1987 – 122 min.
Section: Documentaries | A Dedicated Filmmaker Hara Kazuo

An obsessive meets an obsessive: Hara follows veteran Okuzaki Kenzo in his quest to expose and critique the horrors of the last days of World War II, when Japanese soldiers on New Guinea were faced with the choice between starvation and cannibalism. He confronts both victims – including families of those shot for their actions – and abusive commanders who failed them, in near-parodic politeness that opens with gifts and then turns to accusations. And his attacks go far – up to the cult of the Emperor (Hirohito) and a responsibility unspoken in Japanese society, which has shunned this film.

April 7th, 2018 | The Metroplex | 3:00 pm

Of Love & Law by Toda Hikaru – Japan, UK, France | 2017 – 94 min.
Section: Firebird Awards – Documentary Competition

This crowd-sourced activist documentary by Toda Hikaru centers on two men, Fumi and Kazu, who are both lovers and partners in Japan’s only LGBTQ law firm. While affirming their partnerships amidst multiple repressions, these lawyers also take on clients whose issues expand our awareness of the dimensions of “outsiderness” and individuality challenging the status quo in a society that has mingled democracy and modernity with deeply confining traditions and rules. Grand Prize, “Japanese Cinema Splash”, Tokyo International Film Festival. (HKIFF Catalogue)

Trailer:

April 7th, 2018 | The Metroplex | 5:00 pm

Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974 by Hara Kazuo – Japan | 1974 – 92 min.
Section: Documentaries | A Dedicated Filmmaker Hara Kazuo

A film that strips away the mirages of romance in the unsettling life of a Japanese feminist and her intersections with her obsessive ex-boyfriend, the filmmaker. While Kazuo states early on that the film was a way to keep his wife in his life, she takes over in painful revelations that also cast him into dark shadows. Halfway through the process, Hara even arranged for his new girlfriend, a producer, to join the shooting and engage in a conversation with the ex. Lovers, relationships, and issues of race and power in Okinawa, give way to sheer control of the female body as Miyuki gives birth and Hara rolls the camera, silently, stripping Eros of Erotica but challenging us with what emerges in its place.

April 7th, 2018 | The Metroplex | 7:00 pm

Omotenashi by Jay Chern – Taiwan, Japan | 2018 – 96 min.
Section: Gala Presentation | OPENING FILM

When the moon no longer shines, the beautiful yet obsolete Bright Moon Ryokan in Kyoto is acquired by the innkeeper’s Taiwanese former lover, who sends his son to supervise the renovation. Unaware of his hidden agenda, the innkeeper is excited about the idea of turning the hotel into a wedding venue, and suggests that he learns “omotenashi”, the virtue of traditional Japanese hospitality, together with her daughter and the otaku helper. Distant yet intimate, Jay Chern’s feature debut offers a heartwarming portrayal of young people getting to appreciate different cultures, and the values of things old and new. (HKIFF Catalogue)

Trailer:

April 7th, 2018 | The Metroplex | 9:00 pm

Pity by Babis Makridis – Greece | 2018 – 99 min.
Section: Firebird Awards | Young Cinema Competition

Mourning his comatose wife, a drab lawyer plummets into sadness. As consolations from friends and neighbors become a regimented routine, he soon finds there are more perks to living with grief than without, and is willing to do everything to maintain his mood of solemnity and ensure the gestures of sympathy from others continue. Cannes Best Screenplay winner Efthymis Filippou crafted yet another deadpan black comedy of the Greek Weird Wave, gleefully shredding the artifice of feeling and fictional sentimentality.

Trailer:

April 7th, 2018 | Hong Kong Arts Centre Cinema

Ex Libris – The New York Public Library by Frederick Wiseman
USA | 2017 – 197 min.
Section: Masters & Auteurs | The Master

What is a library? Books? Computers? Buildings? People? For Frederick Wiseman, the New York Public Library is above all a world of words – read aloud, sought by strangers, shared in discussions, brought into debate or used to teach. From the iconic splendor of the Main Library on 42nd Street to the richness (and idiosyncracies) of special collections to the everydayness of the far-flung branches, Wiseman reveals a world of information and ideas not archived but circulated, alive and shared.

Trailer:

Tickets for the additional screenings will be available from 15 March (Thu) onwards and can be booked online at www.hkiff.org.hk and all URBTIX and HK Ticketing outlets.

The 42nd HKIFF will take place from will take place from March 19th until April 5th in the beautiful city of Hong Kong.

About the HKIFF:
The HKIFF is one of the Asia’s oldest and most reputable platforms for filmmakers, film professionals and filmgoers from all over the world to launch new work and experience outstanding films. Committed to discovering new talent, the festival premieres the breadth of Chinese cinema and showcases Asian talent. As a life-style event, festival-goers watch world-class films, experience talks with leading filmmakers, visit film exhibitions and attend parties celebrating the Festival community, and much more.

To see other articles about the HKIFF please go HERE