Fresh Wave

Leaving music school, the happy-go-lucky Ling returns to Hong Kong to her dementia-stricken father, on whom she tries to conduct music therapy. Her demurer older sister Munn, the caretaker and sole supporter of the family, watches with disapproval. Playing the piano piece her father once taught her, Ling seems to register some change in her father’s condition, a glimmer of hope amidst the abyss of oblivion. However, secret animosity and rivalry eventually leads to open conflict between the two sisters, bringing out long-time family traumas. Will music save them?

An umbrella standing alone in the rain by the road. Is it a magical umbrella that protects its owner, or a curse? Sum-yu, a reserved young woman, suffers daily sexual harassment in the office by her male colleagues and superior. All this changes when she comes across a blood-red umbrella on a rainy night, unleashing a malevolent spirit and transforming her into a merciless avenger against the men who have wronged her. Can wrongs of the past life be righted in the current one? A modern ghost story incorporating body horror motifs, the short relates a bloody and thrilling tale of contemporary gender relations.

Single father Tsui meets university student Gigi who works at an old-fashioned barber shop that Tsui frequents. They bond immediately and begin a profound exchange. The fleeting friendship is a pleasant surprise during times of vulnerability, but does not help to overcome their individual challenges and demons. Tsui continues to put off dealing with a pressing matter that has long been eating him. Amidst the social unrest, Gigi’s outlook and musings on life lead Tsui to reflect on the unsolved matter and he eventually makes an important decision.

Is there eternity in the universe? Five-year-old Ka-wing and his younger sister Ka-yan have been asking this question for all time. From a tumultuous childhood in an abusive household, the siblings are delivered to the HO’s, where they find temporary solace and stability. A brief reunion with their biological parents propels the children back onto a trajectory of precarity and shatters their young dream of home, a shifting idea gradually taking form as they grow up. Featuring Loletta LEE Lai-chun (Golden Horse Awards for Best Actress, Ordinary Heroes, 1999) and David SIU Chung-hang, the short is a narration of childhood through a decade of imaging technology.

Kwan believes that she is unique. Enclosed in solitude within her own literary world and deprived of affections from her family, she longs for love in whatever form it takes - no matter how distorted. She considers the detention class with Mr Cheung a shelter from the world, until it is shattered together with all her hopes. She finally comes to the realisation that it is the world that goes against her. There is no hiding place for her no matter how hard she struggles……

The average person’s head has up to 100,000 hairs. Each strand may be unique in length and texture but they are said to bear our memories of sorrow and worry. Neighbors come to the old shop “Barber’s Time” to part with both their hair and bad memories. Although Cantonese style haircutting is on the slippery slope to extinction, barber shop owner Hoi-chuen wishes for his son Cheung-fat to manage the shop. Aspiring to be a writer like J. D. Salinger instead, Cheung-fat takes over “Barber’s Time” when his father had an accident. Just like his father, Cheung-fat develops rapport with the customers and provides guidance. His own life also turns around when a runaway girl comes to the shop. A magical heartwarming tale of community support and kindness, the short features Kaki Shum from the film “Weeds of Fire”.

Ching’s parents are retirees ready to leave for Taiwan where a new chapter awaits them. The only thing holding them back is their daughter’s hesitation to join them. Unbeknownst to them, Ching is stuck in an affair with a married man. She is constantly teetering between trust and distrust, clinging on unfulfilled promises instead of letting go. Life has presented a difficult crossroad to her as she weighs between acting for her own good and following what the heart desires.

Ka-long, a wanderlust graduated from the University of Hong Kong, always dreams of backpacking to many countries with his guitar. While he believes he is trapped in Hong Kong, his family thinks that he is simply wasting his life and not settling down for a better future. He is getting more uplifted after he meets Wen-wen, a girl speaks with a Taiwanese accent. While they are dating, Wen-wen makes an effort to hide her true identity from Ka-long. Can they finally resolve the undercurrent of their relationship? Let’s Get Lost ultilises the thematic motif of road movie genre – both protagonists have to embark on a journey of revealing their true identity. As a result, the film widens its scope to the geo-political differences between Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

One day, the Kowloon Emperor TSANG Man-choi pays a visit to OR Siu-yat, his guard dog of previous life and a current staff of the Community Improvement Bureau, with an incredible story and request. According to TSANG, the Bureau’s plan to redevelop To Kwa Wan will destroy an ancient seal and unleash a vengeful evil spirit, Princess Kwong Tak, who was murdered by TSANG’s ancestor 400 years ago. To save themselves OR must assist TSANG to destroy the evil spirit. In this rare gem of a martial arts/fantasy short film, the impossible battle between human and spirit is playfully visualised.

Everyone is an opportunist if they have an opportunity, and the person below is just a stepping stone up the chain of power. When two boys are left home alone with Grandpa going about his usual business in antiques and collectibles, their improvised ball game results in the breaking of a precious vase. Sly big brother attempts to lay the blame on little brother, by hook and by crook, but Grandpa is as savvy a collector as he is a guardian. The little culprits duly accept their punishment, the blows cushioned by a padding of good humour.

The Winter Solstice has been for the Chinese an important family occasion; however, will this time-honoured tradition become obsolete? The children head back to their family home in the country to see their elderly mother. All seems well on the surface, but each faces their own crisis and difficulty: The eldest brother struggles to raise several kids; the well off second sister plans to leave Hong Kong; estranged from her husband, the younger sister keeps up appearances; and the youngest brother commits to the difficult career as a farmer. The cheerful, animated conversation at the dinner table is overshadowed by simmering anxieties.

Ms Chan, a social worker who has just returned to work, receives her first case. She pays a visit to Jia, a single elderly who seems to have accidentally dialled the Care-on-Call Service. Jia has suspicious bruises on his face and Ms. Chan senses a possible family abuse situation. However, Jia’s attitude is unwelcoming and he sends her off right away. Since then, a series of peculiar events make Ms. Chan question her own sense of reality and sanity.

For years, he has neglected his family in Hong Kong to tend his business in Mainland China. Back in Hong Kong after his father's death, the man discovers his son's childhood diary. As he reads about his son's life with his father, the man realizes that he has let his son's childhood pass by him. Filled with regret for both his father and his son, the man decides to make an effort to mend his relationship with his son. However, is it already too little, too late?

Seated in the front row of a funeral hall are a boy and a teenager, the picture of the deceased yet to be placed. A florist, Tung (Ai Wai), is consumed by grief but puts on a front for others. The boy drops by at the florist and orders a custom floral arrangement - a teddy bear-shaped wreath with his favourite yellow flowers — to be readied in three days' time and paid with money saved up in his piggy bank. Tung forges an unlikely friendship with his young customer, an encounter that releases bottled-up emotions so that healing process can begin.

A girl called Christy is missing. The case haunts Detective Max, time and time again, leaving him with a sense of remorse. Following a trail, Max arrives at an abandoned school where he finds traces of a cult ritual and a murder scene. Suddenly he finds himself in a stylish bar where he sees his former colleague and Christy. Meanwhile the murderer is lurking behind... Will Max find hope and redemption from the dismal past? Shot in black and white, this mysterious thriller employs the stylistic elements of neo-noir and horror to recreate our urban terrors of missing people.

In our daydreams, we always dream about who we can be and what we can do. Chak is always living between his dream state – where he is admired and can get any girl he wants – and the reality – where he is constantly teased by his sexually frustrated, foul-mouthed friends. One day, Chak's dream becomes reality when he finds the acceptance of a girl he likes, but cruel reality eventually stops him once more. Instead of running away, Chak must face the real world head-on this time around.

Legendary chef Mo Yik-Tin is notorious for turning animals into spectacular dishes – tastes always rule over lives under the butcher's knife. Equally thoughtful and fascist, Mo is a fascinating mentor in the eyes of his apprentice. In subtle tension with the TV programme's host, Mo is poised to present his greatest culinary dishes which set off an intense debate with the programme host. A reflection on the general public's food-obsessed culture and celebrity worship, this feature also highlights human's decadence and corrupt excess through the aesthetics of food.

Liza, once a notorious mob boss, has always been strategically planning the career of her only son Yan. It is however never in Yan’s intention to follow her mother’s footsteps - instead he aspires to be a filmmaker. As a mob, Yan is highly incompetent, and his disappointing performance already messed up a simple drug deal. Liza desperately tries to save her most sought-after son, but she ends up, along with her son, breaking into her neighbour Mr. Chan's home. They accidentally steal the head of Mrs. Chan, whom they assume was murdered by Mr. Chan. They recklessly decide to blackmail Mr. Chan, and everything goes out of control. Will Liza and her beloved son survive this crisis?

Art imitates life in this charming short about the fictional actress LilyMoon. With a chance encounter and a lost autobiographical manuscript, a bartender becomes acquainted with the retired screen star. Their friendship blossoms as LilyMoon reminisces about her past including her life as a sought-after actor, non-existent childhood and memories of first love. Eventually, the young and well-meaning bartender helps to relieve LilyMoon's pent-up feelings of sadness and encourages her to meet a long-lost lover.

Pak-kiu works as a gaffer while waiting for his first break in front of the camera. An inviting target of ridicule, he remains unwavering that he will rise above the sordid realities of the glamorous world of film-making with his determination to be a proper actor rather than a star. So when he is offered a bit part as a cancer patient in a new film, he jumps at the chance to practise method acting, literally getting into his character and inhabiting him through claiming membership of a support group, which reunites him with an old classmate. However, the reunion, shrouded in a façade of altruistic motive, leaves him ill-prepared for a role in real life that is not so easily dismissed as a character in the script...