Hong Kong Arts Development Council

Ricky leaves Hong Kong for Switzerland to look for the lost soul and the past of his deceased Swiss lover, Pascal. Ricky struggles with the confusion of memories, reality and illusion.

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.

Ching’s mother asks Ching to take her grandmother in until she is sent to a nursing home and that makes her ponder over her relationship with her mother. Three generations of women, each has their own share of pain.

Kuen is a lounge singer on Temple Street. Her son Kakei, now a university student, returns to Hong Kong for just a few days after emigrating to Canada with his father. Kuen's colleague Kit has to work overnight and enlists Kuen’s help to take care of her young son. During the sleepless night, Kuen and Ka-kei relive their past and envisage their future through another pair of mother and son. Under the bright sun, the cycle of life and family relationships continue, made all the more touching by the nuanced moments of care and concern between each other. SHAM Ka-ki of Weeds On Fire plays the son and renders a tender and layered performance full of subtlety.

"This is a story of fall: of falling into traps and for lies and scams, of falling in love and falling out of love, and of falling for your own lies and falling back into the old ways, spectacularly. Michelle enrols in a self-help course in the hope that she will make her married lover come to his senses and treats her right. When the chanting of positive self-affirmations – Peace! Friendship! Love! – descends into uncontrollable screaming and wailing, will the newly converted be able to see things in a new light or will she wrapped herself up in the shining armour of self-victimisation to keep her from hurting?"

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?

Brilliantly played by LAW Ka-ying, the revered Skyblade hails from a prestigious family of Cantonese opera singers. Pressured into performing opposite the sponsor’s child at the celebrated Red Banquet in return for financial support, the reluctant Skyblade is further taken aback when he realises that Jade is a girl slated to play a male lead role in a predominantly masculine cast. However, as Jade’s talent becomes apparent to Skyblade, a bond is formed between the two during rehearsals, and a mutual understanding that both have been sacrificing their dreams and passions out of duty towards the family. When Jade reveals a shocking resolution to take control of her life, it is up to Skyblade to decide their fate on stage.

When Chan is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decides to end his own life, but his grandson unexpectedly brings him an abandoned old dog. The encounter cannot change their destinies but allow them to accept changes that inevitably happen.

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.

We cannot escape from bureaucracy in life as well as in death. Quickie promises his grandma to handle the forced removal of his great-grand aunt’s niche. But without the ancestor’s identity documents, Quickie cannot apply for public columbarium niches. On the other hand, grandma refuses to have the evicted ashes brought home for fear of bad luck. As he struggles with bureaucratic red tape, Quickie thinks of one inventive solution after another to find a temporary home for the ashes. The story is a biting commentary on ridiculous public policies rendered in vibrant, energetic colours and groan-inducing jokes to highlight the absurdity of the situation.

Lai-sing, full of aspirations as a journalist, lives in Hong Kong with his sister Kei-mei. Their parents live in Hainan since retirement while Uncle Guoyou lives in Shenzhen. The family is separated until the third anniversary of the death of Lai-sing's grandmother. According to tradition, a monument has to be erected on this occasion, which brings the family members to meet up. The reunion slowly unveils the indiscernible distances and intimacies built over time. It is only through understanding and acceptance that they would cast aside their differences and show genuine care for each other.

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.

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?

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.

A driver who has ties with criminals follows certain principles and distinguishes himself from the “bad guys”. But just as the unanticipated carrots found in the usual “Today’s Special”, this night’s mission is made special when a young woman is seemingly in grave danger. Trying his best to avert the crisis through a night’s battle of car chases and fist fights, he arrives at the totally unexpected destination of futility. Appropriating the most popular elements of Hong Kong genre cinema: triads, street fights and car chases, Tiger YAU’s first drama short cooks up a visually rich bowl of “Today’s Special”.

The film is set in a future when the central government attempts to replace every citizen’s name with numbers. In such a social upheaval, Ma Yi cares nothing but cancels an auto-masturbating machine. While Ma Yi doesn’t violate the law, he is however arrested and interrogated by the police.

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.

Liu Yang He, a landmark in Hunan province, is not only the film’s original title but also a well-known Communist folk song in China. It was written during the Agrarian Reform that precedes the Cultural Revolution. Youngsters were sent to farmlands and factories to experience intense labour. They sang to praise Chairman Mao. Kah-kah (Rain Lau) was permanently injured in an industrial accident during that time. When Kah-kah meets this amputated client (Ko Hon-man), they feel sympathy with each other and turn this sympathy into a possibility of love as if they were flowing into a river of no return. Here, Rain Lau’s sophisticated performance resembles her award-winning role in Queen of Temple Street (1990).

A time and space that get mixed up, A brother and a sister, One who loves starting fire, Whereas the other loves extinguishing it, An unusual relationship.