Passing the screen test - the film folks' favourites

Ann Hui On-wah, director

My favourite film of 2011: Warriors of the Rainbow - Seediq Bale. It's a courageous undertaking for Wei Te-sheng whose hands were full of elements easily considered to be box office poison. It's about rough indigenous tribes, speaking in their native tongue, and he's delivered something which anyone can empathise with. The film's promotional campaign is also effective. A revelation.

My most memorable moment of 2011: seeing audiences giving my film, A Simple Life, a standing ovation for several minutes, after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. It's something I've never experienced before, and it seems so surreal. It's probably the highlight of my life.

Roger Garcia, executive director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival

My favourite films of 2011: J.J. Abrams' Super 8 - geeks gone wild; a guerilla film made on a studio budget. Marlon Rivera's The Woman in The Septic Tank - a satire on cultural colonisation; a guerilla film making studio-sized box office in the Philippines.

My most memorable moment of 2001: at a party, singing happy birthday to German filmmaker Werner Herzog - while standing next to him.

Paul Fonoroff, film critic

My favourite film of 2011: due to a disappointing lack of fantastic new local fare, my favourite film this year is instead Colourful Youth, the 1966 Cantonese musical newly restored by the Hong Kong Film Archive in time for the Lunar New Year holidays in 2011. It's so full of Hong Kong-style joie de vivre that its fun factor makes most of today's crop pale by comparison.

My most memorable moment of 2011: the exhibition in Paris' National Institute of Art History of a selection from my collection of old Shanghai and Hong Kong movie magazines dating from 1921 to 1951. Quite a thrill to see the publications properly displayed rather than piled up in my cramped flat.

Nansun Shi, producer My favourite film of 2011: A Separation.

Excellent in every aspect of filmmaking - script, direction, performance. We learn something about contemporary life in Iran, yet at the same time, we find that there are many cultural samenesses - to be responsible for one's elderly parents, husband-wife relationships, parent-child relationships, class differences, and small misunderstandings with monumental repercussions.

My most memorable experience of 2011: being a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival.

Jessey Tsang Tsui-shan, director and film festival organiser

My favourite film of 2011: Datong: The Great Society. Evans Chan Yiu-shing's movies have always been very lyrical. His latest film is an experimental and thought-provoking mixture of drama and documentary. He brings a new perspective to [19th-century reformer] Kang Youwei's impact on Chinese society.

My most memorable moment of 2011: being present at the once-a-decade festival in Ho Chung, where I grew up. Apart from attending it as a villager, I was there this year also as a filmmaker, recording the event and weaving it into my new film Big Blue Lake. I felt that it's a very important moment in the film.