Five Hong Kong film festivals to get excited about in September
Hongkongers can choose from the best of Sundance, the Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, the Jumping Frames International Dance Video Festival, the Human Rights Documentary Film Festival and Cine Italiano
As the Toronto International Film Festival kicks off this week and with the Venice film festival wrapping up this weekend, Hong Kong cinephiles would be forgiven for feeling a little envious of all the glamorous cinematic goings on.
But while you may not be on the Lido in Venice or at the Lightbox in Toronto, there are still plenty of cinematic delights to explore in the city. September promises a wide and eclectic range of film-related festivities championing everything from independents and documentaries to auteur classics and pulse-pounding micro shorts to service every taste and demographic.
September’s flagship event is undoubtedly the 2017 Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong , which runs from September 21 to October 1 at The Metroplex, in Kowloon Bay. Now in its fourth edition, the programme offers a unique showcase of a dozen feature and documentary highlights from this year’s festival, in many cases giving local audiences their only chance to watch these films on the big screen.
This year’s selection includes several award winners: Eliza Hittman’s Beach Rats, which chronicles the pivotal summer of a young man in Brooklyn as he explores his sexual identity; Gook, a hot-blooded drama about two Korean American brothers growing up during the LA riots of 1992; and the documentary STEP, that won a special jury award and follows three dance students from a Baltimore school that has pledged to secure a college place for every one of its girls.
