15 Must-see films from the 50th Hong Kong International Film Festival 2026

By Asian Film Festival on March 28, 2026 • ( Leave a comment )

These are fifteen films you shouldn’t miss from the Hong Kong International Film Festival, which will take place from April 1 – 12, 2026.

A Dance With Rainbows by Lee Yi-Shan – Taiwan | 2025 – 130 minutes

When she isn’t training to end her losing streak in the ring, female amateur boxer Ling spends the rest of her time trying to hold her fractured family together, while barely making ends meet helping her mother prepare cheap lunchboxes. One of the most grounded sports films in recent memory, Lee Yi- Shan’s enthralling character study emphasises its protagonist’s harsh reality, rather than embrace genre clichés such as climactic matches and miraculous comebacks. More importantly, the film also tackles the moral quandary faced by athletes when sports and commerce collide. (HKIFF 2026)

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A Foggy Tale by Chen Yu-Hsun – Taiwan |2 025 – 134 minutes

After her older brother is hunted down and executed by the Kuomintang, plucky teenager Yue resolves to bring his body back home, and sets off for Taipei by herself. Upon arrival, she finds herself desperately out of her depth, until another outcast – soldier-turned-rickshaw driver Kung-Tao – comes to her aid. Set during Taiwan’s tumultuous White Terror, Chen’s thoroughly absorbing drama deftly balances the horrors of the era with human drama and calming moments of humour, spinning an epic tale of sacrifice and heroism that transpired in the all-too recent past. Best Narrative Feature, Golden Horse Awards. (HKIFF 2026)

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Ah Girl by Ang Geck Geck Priscilla – Singapore | 2026 – 94 minutes | Asian Premiere

Drawing from her own memories of growing up in 1990s Singapore, Ang Geck Geck Priscilla’s devastatingly tender directorial debut is a delicate coming-of-age tale that is at once harrowing and whimsical, without becoming overly sentimental. Caught between their feuding parents, Ah Girl and her little sister are constantly shuttled around by the adults in their lives who see them as no more than burdens. Old enough to see, but too young to comprehend, Ah Girl navigates the complexities of the adult world with gusto, despite the endless heartbreak that reality serves her. (HKIFF 2026)

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All Greens by Koyama Takashi – Japan | 2025 – 119 minutes

Hidemi uses free-style rapping as her escape from abuse at home, microaggressions at school, and a nagging feeling of malaise. When she discovers that former class social butterfly Milk shares a similar hopelessness about their dead-end small town, they pursue a daring endeavour that could change their lives. Koyama Takashi’s adaptation of the award-winning novel blends female camaraderie, a coming-of-age story, and crime comedy into a dryly funny and boldly anti-establishment youth film. This rousing cliché-defying work says that going all-in and losing everything is better than arrested development. (HKIFF 2026)

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Amoeba by Tan Si You – Singapore, Netherlands, France, Spain, South Korea | 2025 – 99 minutes

Singaporean filmmaker Tan Si You’s directorial debut is a daring indictment of her home country’s conformist education system and a playfully idiosyncratic ode to adolescent mischief. A rebel at heart, Xin Yu was never meant to fit into her new all-girls school. After she becomes fast friends with three kindred spirits in class, the girls decide to form a ‘gang’ in search of liberation from the rigid social constraints of their society. But do these square pegs stand a chance in a country that claims to promote multiculturalism, but doesn’t even permit bubble gum? (HKIFF 2026)

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Back Home by Tsai Ming-Liang – Taiwan | 2025 – 65 minutes

Days (44th) star Anong Houngheuangsy is on a trip back to his village home in Laos. Accompanying him is Tsai Ming-Liang, who roams rural Laos with his camera, capturing the landscape through silent observation. From an amusement park to crumbling buildings, marketplaces and a family’s daily life, Tsai lets the settings speak for themselves. With these organic scenes of bucolic life, this mesmerising documentary – what Tsai calls ‘Hand-sculpted Cinema’ – offers an impassive gaze at a land that is as beautiful in its remote scenery as it is empty in economic possibility, and a poignant contemplation on homecoming. (HKIFF 2026)

En Route To by Yoo Jae-in – South Korea | 2025 – 106 minutes

High-schooler Yun-ji has been having an affair with her married homeroom teacher, Mr. Han, but events take a turn when he goes missing and Yun-ji learns she is pregnant. In a desperate effort to put things right, Yun-ji steals her roommate Kyung-sun’s savings to buy illegal abortion pills, but her misguided actions only make matters worse. Boasting a brace of excellent performances, Yoo’s feature debut is an intelligent yet grounded view of the challenges facing young women from broken homes, incorporating a number of hot-button issues without sensationalising the plight of her protagonist. (HKIFF 2026)

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Goodbye Sisters by Alexander Murphy – France, Nepal | 2025 – 90 minutes| Asian Premiere

Following two girls from Kathmandu on a trip back home, this engrossing and visually captivating documentary offers a silent yet intimate observation of life in a remote Himalayan village. On what could be their last trip to the mountains, the sisters join their family on an arduous trek to harvest yarsagumba, a rare and valuable fungus that can improve the family’s livelihood. Beyond its endearing characters, majestic landscapes and fascinating insights into a hidden way of life, Alexander Murphy’s lens takes time to make the optimism, stamina and familial bond against hardship look all the more admirable. (HKIFF 2026)

Screening Dates:
April 9, 2026 | Emperor Cinemas Times Square (TS) | 2:45 pm
April 11, 2026 | Emperor Cinemas Times Square (TS) | 10:00 pm

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Halo by Roh Young-wan – South Korea | 2025 – 106 minutes

Min-joon has been dreaming of becoming a filmmaker since he was a little boy. The reality, however, is very different. The sole breadwinner for a desperate household works himself to the bone as a delivery driver, sleeping in his van and bailing out his rotten family. One day he meets a fortune teller, who envisions a brighter future for Min-joon, but it seems to him a world away. Roh’s unflinching debut feature reveals the harsh reality of today’s gig economy, where a comfortable middle-class existence remains an untenable pipe dream for so many who dare to imagine something better for themselves. (HKIFF 2026)

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Magellan by Lav Diaz – Philippines, Portugal, Spain, France | 2025 – 163 minutes

Charting the doomed final voyage of the famed Portuguese explorer, Lav Diaz’s (Phantosmia, 49th) stripped down sea-faring epic depicts Magellan as a frustrated, tortured individual, beset by mutinies and malnutrition while plagued by visions of the young bride he left behind. Told from the perspective of a Cebuano slave, we witness the beauty and bloodshed of these colonial expeditions, as Magellan plots a new course West, only to meet his untimely end at the hands of deeply sceptical Filipino islanders following his thwarted efforts to spread the ‘Good Word’. (HKIFF 2026)

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Mothertongue by Zhang Lu – China | 2025 – 122 minutes

After losing a role because she can no longer speak her native Chengdu dialect, actress Chunshu returns to her hometown. There, she reunites with the acting teacher who pushed her to speak standard Mandarin, strikes up a bond with her Shanghai-born son, and wanders the city’s soon-to-be-demolished Emei Film Studio. Straddling different cultures himself, Korean- Chinese filmmaker Zhang Lu (The Shadowless Tower, 47th) explores the role of language in identity and the disorientation of being a stranger in one’s own home. Best Director and Best Actor, Tokyo International Film Festival. (HKIFF 2026)

Nighttime Sounds by Zhang Zhongchen – China | 2025 – 89 minutes

Director Zhang Zhongchen explores the suppressed longings and desires of rural Chinese women from an innocent child’s perspective with his poetic sophomore feature. In a small town, eight-year-old Qing comes across a mysterious boy who is searching for his mother. The enigmatic child’s presence gradually helps Qing uncover long-dormant secrets about her own parents. A visually captivating blend of magical realism and social commentary, Zhang’s genre-defying cinematic collage demonstrates Zhang’s confidence and otherworldly vision as a filmmaker. (HKIFF 2026)

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Shape of Momo by Tribeny Rai – India, South Korea | 2025 – 114 minutes

Twenty-something Bishnu returns to her family home in the Himalayan foothills after quitting her job in New Delhi. Soon after her arrival, she faces mounting pressures to revert to a more traditional role at home. Chief among these changes will be marrying Gyan, son of a local politician. Rai’s debut is an effortlessly authentic look at contemporary Nepal, where gender roles retain a foot in the past, even as families welcome cosmetic advances with open arms. Gurung serves as a painfully sympathetic surrogate for a new generation of women, torn between filial expectations and mastering their own destiny. (HKIFF 2026)

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The Path of Soul by Cheuk Cheung – Hong Kong, Japan | 2026 – 83 minutes | World Premiere

Shifting his lens from Cantonese opera to Japanese Noh drama, documentary filmmaker Cheuk Cheung continues his exploration of complex gender issues ingrained in traditional theatres. For seven centuries, only the male body has been granted the privilege to inhabit this highly stylised art form that embraces spirituality in subtle movements. The film traces the journey of third-generation Noh performer Uzawa Hikaru, a young woman who makes her presence in the male-dominated space; yet behind the mask lies a daughter yearning to seek a resolution beyond her mother’s path – a quest to fuse body and soul in pursuit of the profoundly mysterious aesthetic. (HKIFF 2026)

The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania – Tunisia, France | 2025 – 89 minutes

Based on real events, the Red Crescent emergency hotline receives a call from a concerned relative, which leads them to a 6-year-old girl, trapped in a car with the bodies of her murdered family. As the vehicle is steadily surrounded by Israeli military forces, the volunteer operators try desperately to comfort her as they attempt to negotiate the logistical nightmare of mounting a rescue. Incorporating verified audio from the actual conversations, Ben Hania creates a breathless documentary-like thriller that also serves as a chilling expose of the Palestinian plight. Grand Jury Prize, Venice. (HKIFF 2026)

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