Hong Kong International Film Festival 2021: the films and programmes you shouldn’t miss
- The festival is back after last year’s cancellation, with more than 50 online films and 200 titles showing in cinemas
- From a Tony Leung and Aaron Kwok crime epic to four Wong Kar-wai classics, here are our highlights
After the postponement and eventual cancellation of last year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival because of the coronavirus pandemic, the festival returns this year with a hybrid 45th edition that includes both in-person and online screenings and events.
A selection of more than 50 documentaries and features will be available to watch in the comfort of your own home. Those desperate to explore treasures of world cinema both old and new in the company of like-minded cinephiles can also choose from over 200 titles screening at venues around the city, which will be operating at half capacity and observing rigorous health and safety protocols to ensure the safest possible festival experience.
Below is our selection of the films and programmes not to be missed at this year’s festival.
Where the Wind Blows
Six years after premiering his award-winning Port of Call, Hong Kong writer-director Philip Yung Tsz-kwong returns with a star-studded crime epic that unites Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Aaron Kwok Fu-shing on screen for the first time.
In the film, the launch of Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in 1974 jeopardises the plans of a notorious police sergeant heavily embroiled in organised crime, leading to a classic stand-off between a pair of rival law enforcers.
Septet: The Story of Hong Kong
