Hong Kong Summer International Film Festival: best films to watch, from Mamoru Hosoda’s Mirai to Audrey Hepburn retrospective
Cine Fan’s Summer International Film Festival runs from August 18 to 28 and will showcase a number of new and old cinematic treats from around the world. Here are our picks of what shouldn’t be missed
Fronted by a clutch of international award winners from some of the year’s most prestigious festivals, this year’s Summer International Film Festival (Summer IFF), hosted by Hong Kong Cine Fan, offers a spread of cinematic treats old and new.
The cousin to the Hong Kong International Film Festival, Summer IFF – which gives equal time to more commercial Western offerings and Asia’s most popular mainstream filmmakers – includes retrospective programmes of the films of Japanese animator Mamoru Hosoda, Hollywood legend Audrey Hepburn and pioneering documentarian Errol Morris.
Below are some highlights not to be missed at next month’s event.
Mirai and Mamoru Hosoda retrospective
Opening this year’s festivities is the latest film from Mamoru Hosoda, who is hailed as the heir apparent to Hayao Miyazaki as Japan’s greatest living animator. A fantastical tale of sibling rivalry, Mirai tells the story of Kun, a four-year-old boy whose world is shattered by the arrival of a baby sister.
What unfolds is a series of magical vignettes as Kun is whisked back in time to witness the struggles of his relatives during their own youth, which gives him a renewed perspective on his own responsibilities as an older brother. Hosoda examines traditional life lessons through a fantastical lens, enhanced by his ravishing visual sensibility, culminating in a joyous sensory overload to delight all comers.
Whether you are new to Hosoda’s work or a passionate devotee, the retrospective offers a wonderful opportunity to experience four of his finest works on the big screen: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Wolf Children and The Boy and the Beast rank as some of the 21st-century’s most accomplished animated features.
Hosoda will also be in attendance to introduce his new film and discuss his past accomplishments.
