The 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival () took place from 28 March to 8 April 2024. Fruit Chan was selected as the Filmmaker in Focus for this edition and masterclasses led by Víctor Erice and Martin McDonagh were featured.
The festival opened with the Hong Kong LGBTQ-themed drama All Shall Be Well by Ray Yeung and closed with the Japanese drama All the Long Nights by Sho Miyake. This year, 190 films from 62 countries were screened, including five world premieres, six international premieres, and sixty-four Asian premieres. Karena Lam was chosen as the new ambassador of the HKIFF starting this edition, succeeding Aaron Kwok, who served for the past five years.
Background The theme of the 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival is "A Portal to Another World". The festival's poster features a Hong Kong street with neon signs as the backdrop, while a brightly colored film screen is placed in the center, reflecting the theme of reimagining Hong Kong through a time portal. Karena Lam was named the new ambassador of the Hong Kong International Film Festival in January 2024 starting from this edition, succeeding Aaron Kwok, who served for the past five years. Lam also served as one of the jurors for the Firebird Awards. She is the second woman to hold this position and the first female ambassador in over a decade (since Miriam Yeung in 2011), and she expressed a commitment to advocating for women's rights in the film industry, as well as promoting Hong Kong's cultural scene, which has faced challenges since the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of streaming services.
Fruit Chan was announced as the Filmmaker in Focus for the festival on 2 February 2024. Albert Lee, the executive director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, explained that Chan was chosen for his creative and pioneering vision in Hong Kong genre filmmaking. British-Irish filmmaker Martin McDonagh and Spanish director Víctor Erice were also announced as features in the Masterclass section later that month, and both would be presenting at the festival in person. A full lineup and the titles of the competitive sections were revealed on 8 March. Other notable guests at the festival included Iranian actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Japanese musician Eiko Ishibashi, American cartoonist Bill Plympton, Indian documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang, Japanese filmmakers Kazuhiro Soda, Shusuke Kaneko, and Sho Miyake, as well as Japanese actors Masaki Okada and Kaya Kiyohara, and Taiwanese actor Greg Hsu. Ishibashi also gave a live performance on 30 March.
The film festival opened on 28 March 2024 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre with the Hong Kong LGBTQ-themed drama All Shall Be Well, directed by Ray Yeung. Events took place at various venues, including the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong City Hall, M+, iSQUARE, Times Square, and Elements. A total of 190 films from 62 countries were screened, featuring five world premieres, six international premieres, and sixty-four Asian premieres. Ticket prices ranged from HK$55 for weekday matinee screenings to HK$5,000 for a VIP pass to the festival. The film festival was part of the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong, which celebrated its 20th anniversary, featuring events such as the 17th Asian Film Awards and the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards taking place concurrently. A new section, the CAA China Genre Initiative Projects, was added to the Asia Financing Forum, Hong Kong International Film Festival's project market.
The Malaysian-Singaporean-Taiwanese historical drama Snow in Midsummer by Chong Keat Aun won the Firebird Award for the Young Cinema Competition (Chinese-language), while the Danish-Swedish psychological thriller Sons by Gustav Möller won the Firebird Award for the Young Cinema Competition (World). The Austrian documentary Favoriten by Ruth Beckermann received the Firebird Award for Documentary Competition. The Taiwanese film A Journey in Spring by Wang Ping-wen and Peng Tsz-hui won the FIPRESCI Prize. The festival closed with the Japanese drama All The Long Nights by Sho Miyake on 8 April.
Jury The jury of the Firebird Awards comprises:
Young Cinema Competition (Chinese-language) Fruit Chan, Hong Kong filmmaker Karena Lam, Hong Kong actress Zhang Xianmin, Chinese film scholar and artistic director
Young Cinema Competition (World) Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Iranian actress Lila Avilés, Mexican filmmaker Derek Tsang, Hong Kong filmmaker Carlo Chatrian, former director of the Locarno Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival
Documentary Competition Lea Glob, Danish documentary filmmaker Du Haibin, Chinese documentary filmmaker Chen Wanling, former programme director of the Taiwan International Documentary Festival
Program sections Opening and closing films The following films were selected as the opening and closing features of the film festival, marking the Asian premiere of both:
English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)Opening film All Shall Be Well Ray Yeung Hong KongClosing film All the Long Nights Sho Miyake Japan
Gala Presentation The following films have been selected for screening in the Gala Presentation section, marking the world premiere of Ho Miu Ki's Love Lies and the Asian premiere of Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Gift:
English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) Exhuma Jang Jae-hyun Korea Gift Ryusuke Hamaguchi Japan Love Lies Ho Miu Ki Hong Kong The Successor Xavier Legrand France, Belgium, Canada
Cinephile Paradise The following films have been selected for screening in the Cinephile Paradise section:
English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) August My Heaven / Chime / Chime Kudo Riho, Kiyoshi Kurosawa Japan The Beast Bertrand Bonello France, Canada Dahomey Mati Diop France, Senegal, Benin The Dead Don't Hurt Viggo Mortensen Canada, Mexico, Denmark Dear Jassi Tarsem Singh India, Canada, United States Dying Matthias Glasner Germany Io capitano Matteo Garrone Italy, Belgium, France Old Fox Hsiao Ya-chuan Taiwan Out of Season Stéphane Brizé France The Promised Land Nikolaj Arcel Denmark, Germany, Sweden Seven Veils Atom Egoyan Canada Tatami Guy Nattiv, Zar Amir Ebrahimi Georgia, United States
Firebird Awards Young Cinema Competition (Chinese-language) The following films were selected to compete in the Young Cinema Competition (Chinese-language) at the Firebird Awards. Snow in Midsummer emerged as the winner, with Liang Ming named Best Director for Carefree Days, Lyu Xingchen named Best Actress for her performance in Carefree Days, and Jason King named Best Actor for his role in A Journey in Spring.
English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) Borrowed Time Choy Ji China Brief History of a Family Lin Jianjie China, France, Denmark, Qatar Carefree Days Liang Ming China Fresh Off Markham Kurt Yuen, Cyrus Lo, Trevor Choi China, Canada A Journey in Spring Wang Ping-Wen, Peng Tzu-Hui China Snow in Midsummer Chong Keat Aun Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan Some Rain Must Fall Qiu Yang China A Song Sung Blue Geng Zihan China
Young Cinema Competition (World) The following films were selected to compete in the Young Cinema Competition (World) at the Firebird Awards. Sons emerged as the winner, with Meryam Joobeur named Best Director for Who Do I Belong To, Minna Wündrich named Best Actress for her performance in Ivo, and Vangelis Mourikis named Best Actor for his role in Arcadia. A special mention was given to Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias' Pepe.
English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) Arcadia Yorgos Zois Greece Arni Dorka Vermes Hungary Ivo Eva Trobisch Germany Pepe Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias Dominican Republic, Namibia, Germany, France Sons Gustav Möller Denmark, Sweden Sujo Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez Mexico, France, United States The Tenants Yoon Eun-kyoung South Korea Who Do I Belong To Meryam Joobeur Tunisia, France, Canada
Documentary Competition The following films were selected to compete in the Young Cinema Competition (Documentary) at the Firebird Awards. Favoriten was unanimously chosen as the winner by the jury, while Wong Siu-pong received the jury prize for his work Obedience.
English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) Architecton Viktor Kossakovsky Germany, France At Averroès & Rosa Parks Averroès & Rosa Parks Nicolas Philibert France Black Box Diaries Shiori Itō Japan Black Snow Alina Simone United States Favoriten Ruth Beckermann Austria Hollywoodgate Ibrahim Nash’at Germany, United States Intercepted Oksana Karpovych Canada, France, Ukraine Obedience Wong Siu-pong Hong Kong
Pan-Chinese Cinema Filmmaker in Focus Fruit Chan was announced to be the Filmmaker in Focus for the film festival on 2 February 2024, featuring ten of his previous works. The Longest Summer was removed from the list on 8 March, with the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society stating that it was unable to locate suitable copies for screening, and Chan's 2019 film The Abortionist was presented in its place. However, Ming Pao noted that the Society had previously screened The Longest Summer in 2017 and 2021, while filmmaker Tin Kai-man also expressed confusion over the decision, explaining that copies of all Hong Kong films should be well-preserved in the Hong Kong Film Archive. Chan described the decision as "pitiful", but noted that those interested in watching would find a way to do so on their own.
English title Original title Director(s) Year of release Production countrie(s) Made in Hong Kong Fruit Chan 1997Hong Kong The Longest Summer 1998 Little Cheung 1999 Durian Durian 2000 Hollywood Hong Kong 2001 Public Toilet 2002 Dumplings 2004 The Midnight After 2014 My City 2015 Three Husbands 2018 The Abortionist 2019
Chinese-language Restored Classics Six restored contemporary classics by Chinese filmmakers were showcased at the film festival:
English title Original title Director(s) Year of release Production countrie(s) Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind Tsui Hark 1980 Hong Kong Old Well Wu Tianming 1987 China Dislocation Huang Jianxin 1986 China The Story of Qiu Ju Zhang Yimou 1992 China Mahjong Edward Yang 1996 Taiwan The Wayward Cloud Tsai Ming-liang 2005 Taiwan
Masters and Auteurs The Masters The following films were selected for screening in the Masterclass section:
English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) Abiding Nowhere Tsai Ming-liang United States, Taiwan Anselm Wim Wenders Germany Essential Truths of the Lake Lav Diaz Philippines, France, Portugal, Singapore Fallen Leaves Kuolleet lehdet Aki Kaurismäki Finland, Germany Green Border Zielona granica Agnieszka Holland Poland, Czech Republic, France, Belgium Kidnapped Rapito Marco Bellocchio Italy, France, Germany Kubi Takeshi Kitano Japan Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros Frederick Wiseman United States The Old Oak Ken Loach United Kingdom Socialist Realism El Realismo Socialista Raúl Ruiz, Valeria Sarmiento Chile A Traveler's Needs Hong Sang-soo South Korea Youth (Spring) Wang Bing France, Luxembourg, Netherlands
Víctor Erice: The Returning Gaze Spanish director Víctor Erice was selected as the featured honoree for the festival's Masterclass tribute program, showcasing all four of his feature films throughout his filmmaking career:
English title Original title Director(s) Year of release Production countrie(s) The Spirit of the Beehive Víctor Erice 1973 Spain El Sur 1983 Spain, France The Quince Tree Sun 1992 Spain Close Your Eyes 2023 Spain, France
Martin McDonagh: Theatre of Dark Tales British-Irish filmmaker Martin McDonagh was announced to lead a masterclass and career retrospective in the Masterclass section on 29 February 2024, featuring all five of his feature films: