HKACT! Act 5 Kowloon Forest: A Virtual Reality Film

Description

Kowloon Forest brings audiences into the extremely personal spaces of its protagonists. In contrast to VR films that place viewers in huge environments, this is a new sensation of being extremely close to people during moments of intimacy.

The director finds inspiration from his own experiences; from living in the infamous Chungking Mansions when he first came to Hong Kong, to doing laundry on the rooftops of Sham Shui Po. The film’s cast is equally grounded: Toonyun, who plays a performer, is a Hong Kong musician; Sara, who plays a Filipina maid, is born in Hong Kong as the daughter of a Filipina domestic helper; Raghuram, who plays a Hong Kong-Indian astrologer, is a spiritual teacher from South India; and Ming, who plays a Chinese businessman, worked in finance in China. He hopes to immerse audiences in these unique moments of Hong Kong and to create new cinematic experiences of intimacy.

Marfin is a film director interested in life in contemporary cities. He is currently based between Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Born in Leningrad in the USSR, Alexey emigrated to the UK in the 1990s. He studied at the Architectural Association in London, where he became interested in designing worlds for film. He began his filmmaking career as a visual effects artist at the Sundance-award-winning studio Factory Fifteen, before directing his own films.
Alexey’s films have screened worldwide – at the Academy-Award-Qualifying L.A. Shorts Film Festival, Brooklyn Film Festival, BiFan, Berlin Interfilm, and many more. He has been featured in VICE, Motherboard, The Creators Project, and other press.

Please note that the film is conducted in Cantonese, Tagalog and Korean. Tours are available on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. There are face-to-face freestyle Q&A and sharing sessions by the director on 3, 10 and 24 August 2019. Please click here to sign up.