Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2019 Repositions the Meaning of Films in the 21st Century

Description

Ever since 2004, the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival (HKAFF) has persisted in offering a fun and fulfilling feast for cinephiles and casual film-goers alike. Now into its 16th edition, the festival takes a step back to reflect on a critical juncture: Why fiddle with festivals when the world out there crashes and burns in 2019?

Centering on “16 and film”, HKAFF this year traces three fundamental elements or moments in film history: 16mm, the grainy film stock much beloved by audacious filmmakers; Sixteen Films, British social-realist auteur Ken Loach’s company; as well as 16 frames per second, the minimum rate in which the human eye would perceive a continuous projection of individual frames as the depiction of motion. These three items mark the milestone of film developments across decades of film making, as filmmakers use the camera to respond to events of their times and portray stories on the silver screen. HKAFF furthers the same rationale today in Hong Kong, by being a platform for independent-minded filmmakers and connecting the public with the media arts.

This year showcases a line-up of films and documentaries from and/or about Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Russia, Malaysia, India, South Korea, Japan, to name but a few. To bring veteran and young filmmakers as well as the audience together, there are outdoor screenings, meet-the-audience sessions and thematic talks, such as the Hong Kong Film Forum.