Hong Kong Asian Film Festival Opens This Sun 9/23

Hello! I just want to give Hong Kong Asian Film Festival (HKAFF2007) a plug! It'll be opening this Sunday 9/23 until 10/10/2007.

The documentary  0506HK that I've been working on for over 2 years is part of the program. I'm in the midst of outputting the documentary this week... and will let you know more about the screening & after party =)

Please come!

HKAFF is four years old!

Withinfour short years, Hong Kong Asian Film Festival has transformed fromits precursor programme “Indie Is Fun?” in 2003, to an event thatshowcases more than 80 films in 63 categories. It is the biggest Asianfilm event in Hong Kong and the most notable platform for bringingtogether new filmmaking talents in Asia .

HKAFFis jointly organised by Ying E Chi and Broadway Cinematheque, two localorganisations dedicated to the promotion of local independentfilmmaking. The number of categories has increased an astonishing 50%this year, from 42 to 63. New additions such as “Chinese Cinema: A NewGeneration”, “Asian Classic”, “Midnite Craze” and “Festival Gala” areintroduced to present the latest and widest range of offerings of Asiancinema to our audience. One of our most highly valued offerings is “NewTalent Award”, which is dedicated to the discovery and promotion offresh Asian directing talents. The 7 films shown under this heading aremostly the debut films of these new directors. We are particularlydelighted to feature MAGIC BOY, the second film of the winner of the 1st Independent Spirit Award, Adam Wong, whose work demonstrates thecontinuing growth and originality of local independent filmmakers.

The selection of this year's HKAFF is stronger than ever: our opening filmLUST, CAUTION, as well as closing films BREEZE IN JULY and USELESSstage their Asian premiere at the HKAFF. We also bring you eagerlyanticipated international film festival favourites such as SECRETSUNSHINE, THE MOURNING FOREST, BEYOND THE YEARS, BLIND MOUNTAIN, LOSTIN BEIJING, THE SUN ALSO RISES and EXODUS. The poetic FILMFUL LIFE byIwai Shunji, a loving portrait of the life and work of Ichikawa Kon, isalso a must-see for film lovers. The cinematic gems from SoutheastAsia, rarely shown in Hong Kong , have a presence at HKAFF as well:distinctive works such as SANKARA, THE BET COLLECTOR and MANORO openour eyes to a new horizon in Asian cinema.

Ontop of the strong selection this year, we have also launched a seriesof interactive and educational events to provide a more in-depth lookat the process of film production. The inauguration event is “NewDirectors Forum” headlined by world-renown director Ang Lee, who willdiscuss with new directors from mainland China , Taiwan and Hong Kongabout their maiden voyages into the seas of directing. Directorsincluding Jia Zhang-ke, Jiang Wen, Fen Xiao-gang, Li Yang, PangHo-Cheung, Aubrey Lam and other Asian helmers will attend thescreenings of their respective films to talk to audiences about theirexperiences in filmmaking. Seminars on Lee Chang-dong, Satyajit Ray,New Chinese Cinema and Jia Zhang-ke's documentaries are also introducedin the hope of helping cineastes to broaden their scope of critique andappreciation.

We hope you will be as excited as we are during the 18-day events of HKAFF, and savour the best of Asian cinema !      

Running 18 days, with over 80 films in 63 categories, the HK Asian Film Festival is one of HK's biggest movie events of the year.

HKAFF已經4歲大了！

香港亞洲電影節 (HKAFF) 從 2003 年的前身「點解獨立咁過癮？」搖身一變，在這短短 4 年間成為一個選映了近 80 部電影，共 63 個節目的電影節，是目前香港最大型的亞洲電影節目，一個匯聚亞洲電影新力量的平台。

HKAFF由致力推廣獨立電影的本地藝團「影意志」和「百老匯電影中心」共同策劃，繼續推動本地獨立電影、支持原創精神。今年更從去年 42 個節目，擴展了50%，新增了「中國電影新世代」、「亞洲經典」、「午夜狂熱」、「優先放送」等多個新項目，讓影迷從多角度全方位觀賞最新鮮熱辣的亞洲電 影，而重點推介的「亞洲新導演獎」，更旨在發掘亞洲新導演，當中精選的 7 部作品，全都是這批新導演的第 1 、 2齣作品。今年我們高興見到贏得第一屆「獨立精神大獎」的香港新晉導演黃修平，以其新作《魔術男》參展，繼續發揮本土創作精神。

選片方面，我們更為大家準備了前所未有的強陣，開幕閉幕的《色，戒》、《七月好風》、《無用》都是震撼心靈的亞洲首映；此外，在海外影展大熱的《密 陽》、《殯之森》、《呼吸》、《千年思憶》、《盲山》、《蘋果》、《太陽照常升起》、《出埃及記》等等，都是影迷翹首以待的作品；亦有岩井俊二寫給市川崑 的情書《市川崑物語》，詩意盎然，影迷愛煞，絕不可錯失。近年中國電影愈戰愈勇，看看「中國電影新世代」便知何解，至於極少在港見面的東南亞區作品，更是 彌足珍貴，推介的《色，禁》、《收數無着數》和《山村小老師》，更讓我們看到一個不一樣的亞洲國度。

今屆 HKAFF除了戲碼增強外，我們為了加深觀眾對電影創作的認識，還特別增加了多個交流及教育的活動環節。頭炮是國際級大導李安出席的新導演論壇，與中港台 新晉導演分享當初作為新導演的滋味。除此以外，我們還有賈樟柯、姜文、馮小剛、李楊、彭浩翔、林愛華以及多位亞洲新導演蒞臨現場，交流他們的創作心得，另 設的李滄東、薩耶哲雷、中國新電影、賈樟柯的紀錄片講座，都是希望提供一個評論的角度，增加觀眾賞析的能力。

在這 18 天的 HKAFF 裡，希望所有參加者跟我們一樣興奮，一同感受亞洲電影的魅力！

For schedule and location information, please see:

http://bc.cinema.com.hk/adhoc/hkaff_2007