Cine Fan Summer International Film Festival 2016 Programme and Opening Film Announced

25 July 2016 (Hong Kong) – The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society Limited (HKIFFS) has announced the complete programme of Cine Fan Summer International Film Festival 2016 (SummerIFF16) today. This year the programme will showcase a wide variety of 30 films with a total of 60 screenings.

OPENING FILM

The festival is excited to open on 16 August with Woody ALLEN’s latest romantic comedy, Café Society, starring Jesse EISENBERG, Kristen STEWART and Steve CARELL. The film was selected to open the Cannes Film Festival 2016.

CLOSING FILM

The critically acclaimed psychological thriller from Cannes, Elle, directed by Paul VERHOEVEN starring Isabelle HUPPERT, will close the Festival on 30 August.

HIGHLIGHTS

Some of this year’s highlights include Thomas VINTERBERG’s The Commune, where Trine DYRHOLM’s powerful performance as Anna won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlinale 2016; Terrence MALICK’s Knight of Cups, the inside-Hollywood story with Christian BALE, Cate BLANCHETT and Natalie PORTMAN; Lithuania's Oscar nominee & Sundance award winning film, The Summer of Sangaile is a coming-of-age tale on the romance between two girls; Love & Friendship directed by Academy nominee Whit STILLMAN, is a big-screen adaptation of Jane AUSTEN's funniest novel “Lady Susan.”

From Asia, Chinese director LIU Jie again finds inspiration amid the snow-capped peaks and verdant of Yunnan province, where his new film De Lan is shot. Adapted from the best-selling crime thriller by YOKOYAMA Hideo, ZEZE Takahisa's SIX FOUR: Part 1/ Part 2 starring SATO Koichi, AYANO Go, and EIKURA Nana, tells about cover-ups in governments, corporations and churches all over the world. From Korea, we have the latest film from LEE Yoon-ki, A Man and a Woman starring JEON Do-yeon and GONG Yoo who fall into a forbidden love in snow-covered Finland.

DOCUMENTARIES

SummerIFF16 presents documentaries from around the world. From the West, we have Stig BJÖRKMAN’s Ingrid Bergman in Her Own Words, a fascinating look behind the scenes of the remarkable and sometimes controversial life of the woman who became one of the most celebrated Swedish actresses of American and world cinema.

Director Andreas JOHNSEN’s surprisingly tasty documentary Bugs follows chef Ben READE and researcher Josh EVANS of the Nordic Food Lab as they travel the globe, sampling edible insects as part of a study on alternative food sources. Can eating bugs save the world?

From the East, the festival brings the outstanding rockumentary, We Are X, a story on X Japan and its co-founder, drummer and leader Yoshiki. The film won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Best Editing at Sundance this year. Another Japanese documentary, The Sion Sono, is directed by OSHIMA Arata, son of the legendary OSHIMA Nagisa. The film’s subject SONO Sion is one of the most controversial and prolific authors, poets and film directors in Japan.  

RESTORED CLASSICS

In the restored classics section, SummerIFF16 is thrilled to show Claude LELOUCH’s A Man and a Woman (Un homme et une femme) on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. This film virtually defined the French love story and won several awards including the Palme d'Or at Cannes 1966 and Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay. Another must-watch classic is the new digital restoration of Akira KUROSAWA’s Rashomon, which is considered as one of the greatest films ever made.

SPECIAL SECTION – MUSCIAL

The Festival will also present “Life is a Musical: A Tribute to the Hollywood Musical” series which covers seven films that define the unique form of the Hollywood musical. The selected films are The Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz 3D, An American in Paris, A Star is Born, Cover Girl, Gigi and Cabaret.

The first film Jean-Luc GODARD shot in color and Cinemascope, A Woman is a Woman (Une femme est une femme) is his idiosyncratic tribute to the Hollywood musical which won his then partner and star Anna KARINA the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlinale 1961. The film also won Special Jury Prize in Berlin.

Alan PARKER’s Pink Floyd the Wall reworks the seminal 1979 album from Britain’s foremost space rockers into a nightmarish dreamscape of paranoia and oppression. One of the most surreal and politically charged musicals ever made underscored by its rousing anthem “Another Brick in the Wall.”

IN TRIBUTE

In memoriam to Iranian film master, Abbas KIAROSTAMI who passed away in early July 2016, the festival will show Certified Copy, his first film shot outside Iran in which the leading actress Juliette BINOCHE won the Best Actress Award for her performance at the Cannes Film Festival 2010.

STUDENT TICKETS

With the generous support from Create Hong Kong of Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, we are pleased to continue offering student tickets at $28 for all screenings at SummerIFF16.

TICKETS SALE

Cine Fan Summer International Film Festival 2016 will be held from 16 to 30 August 2016. Tickets will be on sale via URBTIX from 27 July 2016 onward.

Official website: http://cinefan.com.hk