Hong Kong Summer International Film Festival 2021: 10 highlights, including Cannes hits Annette and Benedetta

Cannes festival best director winner Annette, starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, and Paul Verhoeven’s erotic thriller set in a convent both feature

Maren Eggert won the top acting award at the Berlin festival for I am Your Man, and there are retrospectives of the work of Kim Ki-duk and animator Satoshi Kon

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Marion Cotillard stars in Annette, which is the opening film in this year’s Hong Kong Summer International Film Festival 2021. It was also the curtain-raiser at last month’s Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Best Director prize for Leos Carax.

Published: 12:15pm, 12 Aug 2021Updated: 12:15pm, 12 Aug 2021

The Hong Kong International Film Festival has announced the line-up for its annual boutique summer offering (Summer IFF), which runs in cinemas from August 17-30, with selected titles also available online.

This year’s programme includes highlights from last month’s Cannes Film Festival, as well as retrospectives of two celebrated Asian auteur filmmakers and a number of mouth-watering new films from around the world.

Here are 10 highlights that are not to be missed at this year’s Summer IFF.

1. Annette

This year’s opening film was also the curtain-raiser at last month’s Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Best Director prize. Set to the propulsive and eccentric beats of pop duo Sparks, Leos Carax’s English-language debut is a visually ravishing musical epic starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard.

He is a struggling stand-up comedian, she is an up-and-coming opera diva, but when allegations are raised against him, and their young daughter reveals a surprising gift, their marriage buckles under the strain. What unfolds is an extraordinary examination of celebrity culture, and the corrupting power of fame.

2. Benedetta

Paul Verhoeven, the controversial Dutch filmmaker behind Basic Instinct and Elle, returns with an erotically charged Renaissance-era thriller set within the confines of a Tuscan convent.