Oct 8, 2014
SFFILM
The San Francisco Film Society continues its Fall Season with the fourth annual Hong Kong Cinema festival, November 14-16 at the Vogue Theatre (3290 Sacramento Street), presented in association with the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco. This annual festival of exciting new work from one of the world’s most important filmmaking hubs showcases Hong Kong’s range of cinematic storytelling with contributions from both internationally known filmmakers as well as up-and-coming talents. The 2014 edition also includes a special retrospective screening of Wong Kar-wai’s evergreen Chungking Express, which will be shown on the occasion of its 20th anniversary.
For complete program information visit sffs.org/Exhibition/Fall-Season.
“With the invaluable support of HKETO, we are pleased to be able to present a wide array of the inimitable style and smarts that has made the sterling reputation of the cinema of Hong Kong,” said SFFS Programmer Sean Uyehara. “With action and crime thrillers, romance and comedy, martial arts epics and family dramas all in the mix, I am excited to see how audiences respond to the array of classic and contemporary works represented in the breadth of this program.”
This year’s edition of Hong Kong Cinema features an exciting mix of contemporary tales and rising pop stars with traditional yarns and household names. Included is one of the most celebrated films of the year, Ann Hui’s The Golden Era, which closed the Venice Film Festival and is Hong Kong’s foreign submission to the Academy Awards; new vehicles for Chow Yun-fat and Chapman To; the latest from directors Pang Ho-cheung and Fruit Chan; and much, much more.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14 OPENING NIGHT
5:30 pm Opening Night reception with complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres at Paul Mahder Gallery (3378 Sacramento Street).
7:00 pm From Vegas to Macau
Wong Jing (Du cheng feng yun, Hong Kong/China 2014, 93 min)
Writer-director Wong Jing and actor Chow Yun-fat reunite in this genre-twisting and box office-busting con game tale that recalls their collaboration in one of the most influential Hong Kong films of all time, 1989’s God of Gamblers. Nothing dealt in this film, whose ensemble cast includes current heartthrob Nic Tse and funny everyman Chapman To, should be taken at face value-traps, pranks, gags and subterfuge are the rule. Written by Wong Jing. Cinematography by Cho Man Keung, Man Ching Ng. With Chow Yun-fat, Nicholas Tse, Chapman To, Hung Gao. In Cantonese and English with subtitles. (Mega-Vision Project Workshop)
9:15 pm The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom – North American Premiere
Jacob Cheung (Bai fa mo nu zhuan zhi ming yue tian guo, Hong Kong 2014, 104 min)
This retelling of the classic tale of star-crossed love between Wudang leader Zhou Yihang and witch Jade Raksha combines the traditional choreographic beauty of kung fu films with the latest visual effect marvels. During a famine at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Jade Raksha provides food and shelter to the downtrodden within her walled off Lunar Kingdom. Corrupt government officials viewing Jade Raksha as a threat frame her for murder and send Zhou to bring her to justice. Written by Jacob Cheung. Cinematography by Ardy Lam Kok Wa. With Fan Bingbing, Huang Xiaoming, Vincent Zhao, Wang Xuebing. In Mandarin with subtitles. (Distribution Workshop)
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15
1:30 pm From Vegas to Macau see 11/14
3:45 pm Chungking Express
Wong Kar-wai (Chung Hing sam lam, Hong Kong 1994, 98 min)
Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express (1994) is now 20 years old and remains one of the greatest Hong Kong films ever made. Told in two distinct parts, the film unmistakably renders the bittersweet melancholy and romantic energy of a breakup. Each part-rendered in Wong’s iconic style-centers on one of two policemen recently jilted by their lovers, and the strange and charming strategies each chooses to deal with heartache. Written by Wong Kar-wai. Cinematography by Christopher Doyle, Lau Wai Kung. With Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung, Faye Wong, Takeshi Kaneshiro. In Cantonese, Mandarin and English with subtitles. (Fortissimo Films)
6:00 pm Uncertain Relationships Society – U.S. Premiere
Heiward Mak (Aimei buming guanxi yanjiu xuehui, Hong Kong 2014, 120 min)
Focusing on the intersecting emotional lives of five young people, Uncertain Relationships Society poignantly renders the familiar joys and misfires of early love, friendship and sexual stirring. Beginning with the end of the characters’ high school years and depicting them moving into their early careers, the film smoothly presents the deep and complex bonds uniting them all, giving audiences full insight into their bittersweet triumphs and regrets. Hong Kong tween idol Anjo Leung leads an attractive young cast that delivers a pitch-perfect rendering of youth in the midst of awakening. Written by Heiward Mak. Cinematography by S.K. Yip, Head Chow. With Anjo Leung, Venus Wong, Kaman Kong, Lam Yiu-seng. In Cantonese with subtitles. (Radio Television Hong Kong)
9:00 pm The Midnight After
Fruit Chan (Na ye ling san ngor jor seung liu Wongkok hoi wong Daibo dik hung van, Hong Kong 2014, 124 min)
Adapted from the online novel gone viral Lost on a Minibus from Mongkok to Taipo, Fruit Chan’s latest is a wild, campy, sometimes brutal mindbender. Sixteen passengers-a motley band including a former soccer star and foodie, a drug addict, a bookish new age conspiracy buff, teen delinquents and a hunky guy-fill a minibus and unwittingly arrive in a depopulated post-apocalypse. Banding together, the passengers attempt to figure out where everyone went and why. Written by Chan Fai-hung, Kong Ho-yan, Fruit Chan. Cinematography by Lam Wah-tsuen. With Simon Yam, Lam Suet, Kara Hui. In Cantonese with subtitles. (Fortissimo Films)
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16
1:00 pm The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom see 11/14
3:15 pm The Golden Era
Ann Hui (Huang jin shi dai, Hong Kong/China 2014, 178 min)
Selected as the closing film of this year’s Venice Film Festival, The Golden Era is Hong Kong New Wave master filmmaker Ann Hui’s exhilarating and tragic biopic of underappreciated female novelist Xiao Hong. Following Xiao Hong’s much-too-short life, from socially oppressive 1930s Manchuria to more liberated Harbin and Hong Kong, Hui illustrates Xiao Hong’s independent spirit and emotional bravery, including her turbulent relationship with fellow novelist-and intellectual ally and combatant-Xiao Jun. Written by Li Qiang. Cinematography by Wang Yu. With Tang Wei, Feng Shaofeng, Wang Zhiwen. In Mandarin with subtitles. (China Lion Film Distribution)
6:45 pm Aberdeen
Pang Ho-cheung (Heung Gong Jai, Hong Kong 2014, 97 min)
Director Pang Ho-cheung (Love in a Puff, SFIFF 2011) returns with this classic ensemble tale full of tension and bursts of humor centering on the bonds and divisions within a robust Hong Kong family. Amidst affairs, secrets, bullying, Taoism and Star Wars action figures, the family’s myriad contradictions-between traditions and modernity, superstitions and materialism, family and individuality-mirror the forces constituting Aberdeen, a harbor town whose Chinese namesake is “Little Hong Kong.” Written by Pang Ho-cheung. Cinematography by Jason Kwan. With Miriam Yeung, Louis Koo, Gigi Leung, Eric Tsang. In Cantonese with subtitles. (Magnum Films)
9:00 pm Overheard 3
Alan Mak (Sit yan fung wan 3, Hong Kong/China 2014, 132 min)
One need not see the Overheard prequels to enjoy this stand-alone hardboiled, dizzying tale of loyalty and corruption. The film explores the tested bonds between three friends and is set amidst the shady high stakes business of real estate development in Hong Kong’s New Territories. When Law emerges from a prison sentence he loyally served to protect rural tycoon Luk, he wants to go legit. But, as he’s sucked back into Luk’s orbit, Law enlists Joe to help him break the bonds of servitude. Written by Alan Mak, Felix Chong. Cinematography by Anthony Pun. With Louis Koo, Sean Lau, Daniel Wu, Zhou Xun. In Cantonese and Mandarin with subtitles. (Distribution Workshop)
Film tickets $12 for SFFS members, $14 general, $13 seniors, students and persons with disabilities, $10 children (12 and under); Opening Night film and party tickets $20 for SFFS members, $25 general; Fall Season CineVoucher 10-Packs $110 for SFFS members, $130 general. Box office opens October 8 for members and October 10 for the general public online at sffs.org.
To request screeners and interviews contact bproctor@sffs.org.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/pressdownloads.
Hong Kong Cinema is sponsored by Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco; Joie de Vivre and the Galleria Park Hotel; opening night party sponsor Paul Mahder Gallery and Cater2U; and media partners SF Weekly, San Francisco Bay Guardian and San Francisco Examiner.