Film Countries Archives: Hong Kong

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After Dark Shorts: Disturbing Diversions

  Various

  France, Hong Kong, Mexico, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States     99 minutes

Synopsis

This collection of uncanny and unhinged stories from around the world represent the growing global appetite for genre films. Full of inventive stories with stunning practical effects, this program will delight late night moviegoers of all stripes. Featuring works by Jake Myers, Marcus Anthony Thomas, Juefang Zhang, Tzuhsuan Peng, Suki-Rose, Cricket Arrison, Rodrigue Huart, Marinthia Gutiérrez, and Blake Simon.

A musician stuck in an office job tries the free kombucha that boosts his coworkers’ productivity, only to discover its sinister side effects in Kombucha! (United States). In Space Plug (United Kingdom), a baby is born into a mysterious white room in outer space. There, they grow up nourished by an extraterrestrial creature, but plagued by a desperate desire to break free. Where The Mountain Women Sing (Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States) blends documentary and found-footage narrative as two filmmakers attempt to capture a bloody shamanic ritual in Northeastern China. In Addiction (Taiwan), a policeman obsessively surveils a girl who owns a small store along a desolate road, unaware that he’s not the only hunter lurking in the area. In Chomp (United States), the relentless pace and high-stakes pressure of a bustling news studio creates the ideal environment for a new kind of monster to emerge. In Transylvanie (France), a newly transitioned vampire tries to transform a neighborhood boy into her eternal companion. But she’s underestimated the lengths it will take to prove her bloodthirsty identity. In She Stays (Ella se queda) (Mexico), Laura navigates a night out in downtown Tijuana, eagerly anticipating the moment her destiny will unfold. And Faces (United States) is a mind-bending portrayal of a shape-shifter’s use of appearances to lure in victims, showing that, at the center, they are only social disguises.

 Chinese, English, French, Mandarin Chinese, No Dialogue, Spanish 

Content Advisory

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A forlorn woman stands out in a wintery forest wearing a leather headdress with gray hair wisping across her face.

Where the Mountain Women Sing [short film]

  Juefang Zhang

  Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States     15 minutes

Synopsis

As a desolate community prepares for the succession of a shaman in Northeastern China, a pair of filmmakers recording the process find themselves intertwined in the deadly ritual. Combining found footage with an omniscient perspective, a nightmare unfolds.

This film screens as part of the After Dark Shorts: Disturbing Diversions program.

 Chinese with subtitles

Film Credits

  •   Kathleen I-Ying Lee, Chen Li
  •   Juefang Zhang, Chen Li
  •   Skylar Lin
  •   Yichuan Huang
  •   Fengxiu Guo, Chuqing Wang, Yiming Wang, Qing Xue
  •   Aldo Arechar
  •   When Pigs Fly Films Ltd.

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CineYouth Program

Time and Texture: Experimental

  Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan, United Kingdom, United States     7 shorts | 61 minutes

Synopsis

Some rules are made to be broken. Singular and diverse experiences of identity, sensation, isolation, and time are translated into stunning images and sound. The resulting seven films play like something of a dream, capturing the feeling of being alive as only cinema can.

Please note: Films in this program contain themes, images, and language that may not be suitable for all ages.

Films

Figures dressed in black wear masks made with brown paper bags and marker. One with a frightening, smiling face is centered.

Scared

Children Laboratory ATOM | Kyrgyzstan | Ages 10-14

A group of young people share their deepest fears using paper dolls and masks.

A hazy, black-and-white still shows a remote road lined by foliage disappearing into fog.

From the Void of Time

Lok Yiu Wong | Hong Kong | Age 21

Two jailed men conjure hazy, summery renderings of time and memory.

In an apartment living room, a man kicks his feet up and plays with a cat on the couch.

After Love

Chris Derek Van | Chicago | Age 19

In city apartments, an 18-year old and a middle-aged man form an intimate bond amid shared isolation.

Centered in a grayscale still of trees by residential buildings, the flag of the United Kingdom stands out in full color.

The Shadow Puppet

Macsen Russel | United Kingdom | Age 21

A static, black and white window into the interior world of a man who believes himself to be a murderer.

A crossfade centers a hand squeezing a jacket pocket within the lens of a camera.

Diegesis

Zahni D’Angelo Gulbronson | Chicago | Age 19

Aimless on an empty beach, a wandering man tends to the bird in his pocket.

Viewed from behind, a student sits at a classroom desk in front of a blackboard and presses on her headphones.

Misophonia

Caitlin Lenz | Iowa | Age 20

A multimedia representation of the daily overwhelm of living with a sensory-processing disorder.

A person falls through space, superimposed beween a pair of black-and-white eyes. Subtitles read "Look at me" and "Mirenme."

build me through the image (constrúyanme a través de la imagen)

Paula Hung | New York | Age 20

Mutliracial identity, queerness, and the construction of both are explored through archival footage and family artifacts.

My Life as McDull

McDull and his mother may be animated pigs, but their lives are those of working class Hong Kong residents. The film is a charming, involving picture that epitomizes the irrepressible and happy-go-lucky spirit of Hong Kong.

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