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Vivienne Chow

Fewer but bigger films are coming to this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival.

The latest offerings by French new wave film master Jean-Luc Godard,  Swedish legend Ingmar Bergman,  Iran's Abbas Kiarostami,  Taiwan's Hou Hsiao-hsien,  Yoji Yamada  of Japan and Woody Allen  from America are included in this year's selection.

British director Michael Winterbottom's  controversial sex drama 9 Songs will also be screened.

Internationally renowned mainland underground director Jia Zhangke's  'first legal' work,  The World, has been chosen as one of the  closing films.

The film festival, one of eight events as part of the Entertainment Expo, also has a new section  dedicated to the rising  generation of mainland filmmakers and actors, including Lou Ye's Purple Butterfly, starring Zhang Ziyi;  Lu Chuan's award-winning feature Kekexili: Mountain Patrol;  Liu Fendou's Green Hat;  and Yim Ho's  A West Lake Moment starring Zhou Xun.

'In the past we had only four to five mainland films but this year there's been a huge increase in the number of quality mainland features. These new directors are the world's focus,' said Freddie Wong,   festival curator.

The festival moved its outdoor screenings from the Cultural Centre to the Tamar site, which has room  for up to 6,000 viewers.  Films to be shown outside include Kung Fu Hustle  and Fist of Fury  starring Bruce Lee.

This year the festival has acquired high quality digital projectors for the screening of films made with high-definition digital cameras, including Bergman's Saraband  and Peter Greenaway's The Tulse Luper Suitcases Part 1 and The Tulse Luper Suitcases Part 2.

Multiple best actor award winner Andy Lau Tak-wah  is this year's actor in focus. Eleven  of more than 100 of Lau's works from various decades will be shown, including A Moment of Romance, Saviour of the Soul  and Infernal Affairs III.

'Andy Lau might come as a surprise because most of his films are commercial films. But they have high significance in the Hong Kong film industry,' said Li Cheuk-to,  the festival's artistic director.

'We chose him over Maggie Cheung Man-yuk  because 2004 was like a new stage of his film career. He won some important awards and began going international, with films like House of Flying Daggers  and A World Without Thieves.'  However, the Firebird Award, which was to showcase films by emerging talent, has been removed due to less funding.

Festival director Peter Tsi Ka-kei  said  downsizing of the programme was largely because of a smaller budget - with a government subsidy cut  by $400,000 and previous title sponsor Cathay Pacific pulling out. The festival did not finalise a deal with Sony as the new title sponsor until earlier this month.

'Last year there were 260 films and this year we have 240. Anything between 160 and 200 is our optimal figure,' Mr Tsi said. The festival runs from March 22 to April 6.

Screen gems

Andy Lau, whose career will be the subject of a retrospective at the festival, provided his own calligraphy for the festival's promotional campaign.

Kekexili: mountain patrol (China)

The film that beat Wong Kar-wari's 2046 at last year's Golden Horse Awards and won the special jury prize at last year's Tokyo International Film Festival

Peacock (China)

Oscar-nominated cinematographer Gu Changwei's directorial debut won the Berlinale jury prize last week

A very long engagement (France)

Amelie star Audrey Tautou and director Jean Pierre Jeunet reunite for a romantic yet tragic war epic, with a cameo by Jodie Foster

Saraband (Sweden)

Swedish legend Ingmar Bergman took up a high-definition digital camera to shoot this film a thte age 85

The hidden blade (Japan)

Yamada Yoji's latest offering after the Oscar-nominated The Twilight Samurai stars Nagase Masatoshi and Matsui Takako

Tickets: $30-$55 Super Value Pass ($1,200) and VIP Pass ($3,000) allow unlimited screenings. Postal bookings start tomorrow untile March 8. Online bookings start tomorrow. Counter booking start on March 17. For information and programmes: www.hkiff.org.hk Urbtix hotline: 2734 9009



Andy Lau focus of a leaner film festival