These are twenty short films you shouldn’t miss at the ifva Festival (Hong Kong) which is taking place from October 9 – 24, 2026 at the Louis Koo Cinema (Hong Kong Arts Centre).

(M)OTHER by Tsai Chi Min (Taipei National University of the Arts) – Taiwan | 28 minutes
Section: Hong Kong & International Tertiary Students – Showcase 3

Today is A-Wei’s last day, but it is her first day with Ching.

Screening Day:
October 17, 2026 | Saturday | Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre | 7:30 pm

12 Moments Before the Flag-Raising Ceremony by Qu Zhi Zheng (Beijing Film Academy) – China | 17 minutes
Section: Hong Kong and International Tertiary Students Group – Showcase 4

In the capital city of Beijing, a middle school is about to hold a flag-raising ceremony. However, the flag raiser, Feng Xiao, is struggling with a growing urge to step down. Unfortunately, this is not a gentle winter for him. Amidst the mechanically repeated slogans and movements, the restless and excited atmosphere of a fan-filled cafeteria, and the pristine uniforms, he yearns for an outlet to communicate but finds himself hitting walls everywhere.

Screening Day:
October 18, 2026 | Sunday | Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre | 7:30 pm

A Soil A Culture A River A People by Viv Li – China, Germany | 15 minutes
Section: Asian New Force – Showcase 2

In a dystopian future where borders between countries are indefinitely closed, a replica of Hannover becomes the only way to experience Western culture. Citizen Yu roams around this nostalgic yet eerie town built by the memories of the past. What does he really see?

Screening Day:
October 23, 2026 | Friday | Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre | 7:30 pm

A Tree by Mark Wee – Singapore | 10 minutes
Section: Animation – Showcase 2

A sacred tree is desecrated as land is cleared for urban development and a migrant worker suffers from unexplainable afflictions. Fearful of repercussions from reporting a work incident, a worksite foreman attempts a cover up and learns of histories that haunt the land.

Screening Day:
October 11, 2026 | Sunday | Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre | 4:00 pm

All Our Emotions by Si Jun Chen – China | 20 minutes
Section: Asian New Force – Showcase 1

In a frozen border town of Heilongjiang, a sixteen-year-old boy is diagnosed with a hidden condition at a clinic, yet has no one to confide in. Within a desolate Mongolian-style folk park, his secret feelings for an oilfield captain come to a head—only to confront the icy weight of reality in a snow-covered car on a winter night. Disillusionment weaves through the flickering neon signs. Wilted roses, a silent karaoke room, a medical report abandoned in the snow, and the boy’s confusion and growth—all gradually thaw within this cultural permafrost, only to be buried again beneath the endless snow.

Screening Day:
October 11, 2026 | Sunday | Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre | 7:30 pm

Another Side of the Wall by Zheng Yi Hao (Hong Kong Baptist University) – Hong Kong | 26 minutes
Section: Hong Kong and International Tertiary Students Group – Showcase 2

After graduating from university, Jiawei’s relationship fell into crisis. He chose to stay in Hong Kong, while his girlfriend insisted on returning to her home country to prepare for the civil service exam. Their long-distance relationship gradually wore down their feelings and patience, yet neither was willing to compromise for the other, and so things dragged on. Then one day, Jiawei heard the girl next door—a Hong Kong local—learning to play a guitar song, which happened to be his favorite. The sound of the guitar drifted through the thin wall of their subdivided flats into his empty room…

Screening Day:
October 17, 2026 | Saturday | Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre | 3:00 pm

Golden Haze by Ashley Kwok – Hong Long | 11 minutes
Section: Group Youth Showcase

“What I’ve always been chasing after, was not more than a thin layer of Golden Haze. However, I have never once realised, what lies beyond the shining mirage.”

A top student, haunted by the pressure to succeed, finds her rigid equilibrium disrupted when she stumbles into unexpected journeys and quiet moments of self realisation through external circumstances. Until, for the first time, with naked, unguarded eyes, she peeks into the bright sunlight beyond the haze, and realises, she is freed from the soulless, uninvited notes, the world beyond that halo of light has always been waiting for her, to play out her own shining future.

Screening Day:
October 18, 2026 | Sunday | Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre | 3:00 pm

Green Lake by Zhu Lin Wei – China | 30 minutes
Section: Asian New Force – Showcase 1

In a decaying phosphate fertilizer factory in Yunnan, Hu Xin, a boiler worker haunted by the childhood drowning of a playmate, meets Li Yue—a girl who eerily resembles the one he lost. Drawn to her against his will and caught between emotional desire and a fog of mistaken identity, Hu Xin gradually uncovers a dark secret: the recent disappearance in the factory seems to point directly to Li Yue…

Screening Day:
October 11, 2026 | Sunday | Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre | 7:30 pm

Jumah by Liu Qing Lin, Ye Han Ling (Communication University of China) – China | 17 minutes
Section: Hong Kong and International Tertiary Students Group – Showcase 2

A Muslim girl living in central China begins to question the religious and familial restrictions that shape her life. In an attempt to challenge the taboo of altering the body, she decides to get a tattoo — but her rebellion against the idea of “sin” unexpectedly gives rise to another kind of “sin” that visits her in return.

Screening Day:
October 17, 2026 | Saturday | Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre | 3:00 pm

Mint Condition by Tsoi So Man – Hong Kong | 23 minutes
Section: Open Group – Showcase 2

Lok Chen, a primary school student, was sent by her father to a school that champion perfection. Anything that is less is intolerable. With a grading scheme of either a full 100 or 0, those who fail to perform to perfection will be modified for improvements. Soon, Lok Chen discovers that the system itself is flawed with dystopic intent. Will she survive the system now becomes the question. 

Screening Day:
October 10, 2026 | Saturday | Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre | 7:30 pm

For more information please visit: https://ifva.com/page/?id=R-jjYnaxbOc