Hong Kong Baptist University Academy of Film

Japanese band Aomori Hensou is the only thing that makes Mei Bo feels alive in this mundane city until she meets Lily, her new neighbour. It happens that Lily is also a huge fan of the band so they start to get along with each other like twin sisters. They wander around the city, from second-hand CD shops, to goldfish market, and other secret spots that nobody knows. Lily eventually gets tired of the excitement from Mei Bo and starts exploring the city on her own. One day Lily appears at the door of Mei Bo’s home together with the news of the break up announcement of their favourite band, but there is only an empty room left in front of her.

The conflicts between two generations, between the urban and the rural are intensively examined. When a grandfather and his grandchild experience loss concurrently, they realize the older generation’s protection of the ancestral land and the youth’s defense of the city are cut from the same cloth. Decades have passed, but the people of Hong Kong still do not have an answer for their rootlessness.

The film tells the story of a friendship between a girl, Jane, and a boy, Mike, who wander around an arcade in an urban village, fighting together against the worries of growing up in a depressing environment.

It is always a lesson on communication between father and son, especially when they are having different points of view on life and death. Hung Fat raises up his son by running his coffin shop. However, his son Chun Wai is a doctor. They are detached to each other. Chun Wai does not understand why his father is so insisted to maintain the old shop. Until one day, Chun Wai inherits the coffin shop, then he understands the important of the shop to the neighbourhood. No matter how the society and environment changes, the meaning of life and death is the eternal lesson which we all have to understand.

Shenyang, in deep winter snow. Two promising 12-year-old Beijing opera students, Dong (‘winter’ in Chinese) and Nuannuan (literally meaning ‘warmth’) are practising their stage moves diligently and fervently in order to secure their place in an upcoming performance in the capital. Nuannuan has a crush on Dong but Dong is lost in a daze – of a muted longing for his dead mother and a nameless affection for the girl’s young aunt – which unfolds in the juxtaposing scenes of a lone balloon drifting away and a colourful kite soaring into the sky. The train is soon to leave for Beijing, a fond farewell has been bided. Dong has to make his journey, with or without Nuannuan.

If existence precedes essence, then everything is meaningless. “Perceive as you see, believe not what you perceive, then accept what you see as they are.” A girl who died is reborn without memory and embarks on a journey to explore the meaning of life.

Mainland student Yi Yao comes to study in this busy city. Before her roommate arrives, she is all alone staying in a rented apartment of an old tenement building. Unfamiliar with everything, she tries hard to explore around only finding that the neighbours are noisy, weird and unhelpful; especially after the man living opposite to her getting killed. Being hungry and helpless, she locks up herself in the flat and acts strangely. Can anyone help her? Through a series of mysteries, social issues like Mainland students flocking to Hong Kong, overcrowding living area and indifferent neighbours are covered in the short film.

The night when Ling almost get killed leaves her with the supernatural power – the power to witness the counting down of every single life around her, from years, days, minutes to the last second. Betrayed by friends, emotionally abandoned by blood-tied mother, she at the same time realises that there is only two days left for her. Ling decides to wait for her last moment alone on the rooftop where she encounters a man who attempts to kill himself. A series of happenings teaches Ling on life, friendship and death, a lesson which may be a little bit too late to learn.

Ma and his friends trace a sea monster from a fairy tale they heard on the floating island.

The girl’s hair is tied in braids by her mother every morning. The rigorous woman believes the tighter the braids are, the tighter the mother-daughter bond is. So, the little girl lives with the achy, throbbing feeling from her scalp and tries to understand this painful love. Actually, there is a little fantasy in her mind which is never mentioned or carried out, until an accident happens…

In our life, we are afraid of death and want to catch the most important person or the best time of our life, however, we can’t control that, but we need to face that bravely. The story emphasises the message about the cycle of life, relationship, and connection between family and generation and the concept of Chinese death. The thesis of the story is about growing and finding the meaning of death.

A beautifully shot film tours you around the peaceful Kwu Tung, with a hint of sadness and helplessness. The story takes place in the near future when the North East New Territories New Development Plan soon starts, with a few residents still reluctant to leave their home. Vani’s grandfather suffering from Alzheimer's disease is one of them. She goes to visit him with a hidden agenda – to find the land deed and hopefully help him move to a new home. However, the more she digs into the past, the more she finds out about the “undisclosed facts”. Lun Fung Temple is not only an icon of protection to the village, but also a key to the mysteries.

Married secondary school teacher Hei Man appears to have a happy marriage which merely is a broken dream. Being a victim of domestic and sexual violence, her emotions are reaching their tipping point with nowhere to explode. One day she encounters Chun Heng, a student whose only indulgence is making his own art pieces. Attracted by his passion for art, Hei Man seduces him to develop a sexual relationship with her. He completely falls for Hei Man, while she is only replaying all torture tricks which she suffers in her marriage on him. Chun Heng is desperate for her love, so he makes a decision that would change both their lives.