“HONG KONG SHORT FILM: New Action Express” Online Short Film Selection: And Here Comes the Dawn
“HONG KONG SHORT FILM: New Action Express” Online Short Film Selection: And Here Comes the Dawn
Living together in the same city, there are people walking to work or returning home from dusk till dawn, trying hard to make ends meet. Passing by numerous or breadwinners closely every day, their stories remain unknown to any of us.
HONG KONG SHORT FILM: NEW ACTION EXPRESS: And Here Comes the Dawn will be held online late-night this weekend, featuring 5 local short films. The 5 shorts illustrate various ways of living in our city. People depicted may be ordinary, yet they strive to make a living in the city, just like you and me.
As summer nights go by so very slow, let’s get your laptops ready, and take a walk into their life stories. When the journey ends, here comes the dawn.
Screening time:
16/5 (Sat) 12am & 2pm
23/5 (Sat) 12am & 7pm
Ticketing and screening procedures:
- Register on HKAC website
- Confirmation emails will be sent out a day before the screening
- The link and password to view the short films will be sent via email, 30 minutes before the screening time
- The link and password will be valid for 3 hours from the screening time
Screening line-up:
Sister Kam
Director: Lo Chun-yip
Hong Kong | 2013 | 23’ | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour
As you step into that restaurant, French music plays. The colour scheme is mainly red and black, and the décor has a slightly cultural flavour. You keep going to the bathroom next to the back entrance, and perhaps you’ll see the dishwashing woman. She is taking a nap standing, with her hands still in the plastic bucket—a scene more surreal than the restaurant itself. Her name is Sister Kam.
"Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival has international professionals, amazing audience and a powerful network. I’ve got a lot of inspiration, especially I’ve found that the structure of story-telling was so different in France and that will help a lot on my next short film project" — Shared by Lo Chun-yip, director of Sister KAM after attending Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival & Market 2016 in France, under the sponsorship of NAE.
Call Me Mrs. Chan
Director: Chan Hau-chun, Chui Chi-yin
Hong Kong | 2017 | 15’ | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour
Cleaner Mrs Chan works in a public housing estate to clear the garbage, 365 days a year except on the first day of the Chinese New Year. For the past ten years, her quiet dedication cleaning the building has brought her no respect, only back pain. She said people despised her job, but she carried on with it.
"We’ve heard of the Clermont Short Film Festival, but it was the first time that we attend it. We have learnt a lot from this trip. By watching various screenings every day, we recognise the limitation of our imagination and vision. These high-quality international short films not only bring us the visual impact, but also the soul punch." —Shared by Chan Hau-chun and Chui Chi-yin, directors of Call Me Mrs Chan after attending Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival & Market 2018 in France, under the sponsorship of NAE.
More than ice-cream Wong Kwong
Director: Riley Leung
Hong Kong | 2011 | 13’ | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour
Uncle ice-cream, a 90 year-old man, who shares experience and shows his mental toughness to his customers every day. Presenting a spirit of old Hong Kong, is a role model for youths today.
"Witnessing and experiencing the response from worldwide audience would in turn be the greatest return a film director could ever ask for. And this is what NAE can do for us, to feel the support given to us from our very homeland, Hong Kong." — Shared by Riley Leung, director of More than ice-cream Wong Kwong, after attending 11th Beijing Film Academy Awards and the 19th Regensburg Short Film Week, under the sponsorship of NAE.
Malinois Gaze
Director: Ma Chi-hang
Hong Kong | 2014 | 25’ | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour
Security Guard presents on a boring duty repeatedly in a museum, in which exhibiting a creativity of human. He is standing in a white cube and starring at the absurd artwork. He is like a watch dog, Malinois, looking at everyone pass- by. A compliant stimulate his imagination, he was put to write a routine incident report in details. Therefore, a suppressed imagination explodes, like a running wild dog. The security is finally gazing through the wall to a free horizon.
"After attending the festival, I realised that the independent short films in China are usually student's film or graduation film. Most of the directors set "feature movie" as the standard of career and try hard to seek amount of investment for their first start. This tradition is quite distinct when comparing to Hong Kong. Moreover, mentoring system in is popular in Chinese film industry. The success of the film depends on the stream of the director and their academic background. During the creative process, the involvement of the mentor is quite high, or maybe even more than the director himself. There is no such phenomenon in Hong Kong, in which independent filmmaker own comparatively more autonomy to speak for themselves." — Shared by Ma Chi-hang, director of Malinois Gaze, after attending 12th China Independent Film Festival in China, under the sponsorship of NAE.
Liu Yang He
Director: Jun Li
Hong Kong | 2016 | 25’ | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles | HD | Colour
Kah is a sent-down youth during the Cultural Revolution. She is permanently injured in an industrial accident. She married to Hong Kong and later became a sex worker. One day she meets an amputated client, whose family escaped from the Revolution when he was young. They are sympathetic towards each other.
"The festival has a clear focus - Asian films which I think is a very good one. As Poland is in the middle between West and East, it is interesting to have this area of focus. I enjoyed meeting people and joining the tours organised by the festival. Touching the real film wheel of Kieslowski at the Lodz Film School was an amazing experience for me. And I saw my first Bhutan movie in this festival too. The authorities there are quite supportive to short film. I can see advertisements of the festival everywhere in the city including MTR platforms, museums and restaurants. That is very different to Hong Kong. They also organised a public forum on Hong Kong Cinema and it is my honour to become one of the speakers. Different Hong Kong filmmakers of different generations and background shared about their views on history, practice and future of Hong Kong Cinema." — Shared by Jun Li, director of Liu Yang He after attending 11th Five Flavours Asian Film Festival in Warsaw, Poland, under the sponsorship of NAE.
Presented by: Hong Kong Arts Centre
Sponsored by: Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Special thanks: Lo Chun-yip, Chan Hau-chun, Chui Chi-yin, Riley Leung, Ma Chi-hang, Jun Li and Fresh Wave Film Festival Limited
HONG KONG SHORT FILM: NEW ACTION EXPRESS
Organised by the Hong Kong Arts Centre and sponsored by Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the HONG KONG SHORT FILM: NEW ACTION EXPRESS (NAE) provides subsidies for Hong Kong short film and animation filmmakers to participate in international film festivals and competitions. NAE aims at broadening the horizons of local creative talent and helping them gain exposure abroad. Successful applicants will receive subsidies to cover the costs of a round trip air-ticket, hotel accommodation and festival/competition event pass with an expenditure ceiling of HK$50,000*.
For further details, please visit: www.naehk.com
*Applicants should comply with the terms and conditions set out under “On Application”.
Disclaimer: The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides funding support to the project only, and does not otherwise take part in the project. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials/events (or by members of the project team) are those of the project organisers only and do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Communications and Creative Industries Branch of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, Create Hong Kong, the CreateSmart Initiative Secretariat or the CreateSmart Initiative Vetting Committee.
