After the postponement and eventual cancellation of last year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival because of the coronavirus pandemic, the festival returns this year with a hybrid 45th edition that includes both in-person and online screenings and events. A selection of more than 50 documentaries and features will be available to watch in the comfort of your own home. Those desperate to explore treasures of world cinema both old and new in the company of like-minded cinephiles can also choose from over 200 titles screening at venues around the city, which will be operating at half capacity and observing rigorous health and safety protocols to ensure the safest possible festival experience. Below is our selection of the films and programmes not to be missed at this year’s festival. Where the Wind Blows Six years after premiering his award-winning Port of Call , Hong Kong writer-director Philip Yung Tsz-kwong returns with a star-studded crime epic that unites Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Aaron Kwok Fu-shing on screen for the first time. In the film, the launch of Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in 1974 jeopardises the plans of a notorious police sergeant heavily embroiled in organised crime, leading to a classic stand-off between a pair of rival law enforcers. Septet: The Story of Hong Kong Johnnie To Kei-fung ’s long-gestating anthology project finally sees the light of day, uniting seven of the city’s most prominent filmmakers for a multifaceted portrait of their hometown. To is joined by Ann Hui On-wah , Sammo Hung Kam-bo , Tsui Hark , Yuen Woo-ping , Patrick Tam Ka-ming and the late Ringo Lam Ling-tung to present seven personal perspectives of Hong Kong, from seven different periods of local history, all shot on 35mm film, and spanning a variety of genres, from comedy to drama and even martial arts. Time The 84-year-old screen veteran Patrick Tse Yin plays a retired assassin pulled back into the fray for one last job in first-time director Ricky Ko Chi-ban’s black comedy. Now providing swift passage to the afterlife for elderly clients, Tse’s prolific killer crosses paths with a teenage girl who has been deserted by her parents, and these two lonely souls find an unexpected kinship in each other’s company – until, inevitably, his violent past rears its head once more. Minari Nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture, Lee Isaac Chung’s semi-autobiographical film follows a Korean migrant family’s efforts to build a home in rural 1980s Arkansas, USA. Boasting a stunning ensemble cast that includes Steven Yeun (the first Asian-American to be nominated for a best actor Oscar), Korean screen icon Youn Yuh-jung and seven-year-old Alan Kim, Minari has stormed the awards circuit since its debut at Sundance last year, and proves to be a touching, humorous delight. Flee Winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary section at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s mould-breaking animated documentary is a heart-wrenching personal odyssey not to be missed. As Amin prepares to marry his boyfriend in Copenhagen, he reveals his secret past for the very first time: the life-threatening journey he made to escape his war-torn homeland of Afghanistan, in a desperate search for a better life. Yellow Cat / Ulbolsyn A pair of brand new films from the excellent Kazakh filmmaker Adilkhan Yerzhanov are screening this year, both darkly humorous crime dramas, in which centuries of tradition are punctuated by the encroaching poison of Western pop culture. In Yellow Cat , an ex-con and a prostitute dream of running away together to open a cinema, while in Ulbolsyn , a single woman, ostracised for her perceived loose morals, searches desperately for her kidnapped younger sister. Collective Nominated for both best documentary, and as Romania’s submission in the best international film category, at this year’s Academy Awards, Alexander Nanau’s startling film exposes high-level corruption in his country’s health care system, which comes to light in the wake of a tragic nightclub fire. Playing like the very best journalistic thrillers, Collective follows the idealistic reporters and politicians who put their careers, and potentially their lives, on the line to uncover the truth and implement change. The Mole Agent Another of this year’s best documentary Oscar nominees is this humorous and endlessly surprising tale of geriatric snooping at a Chilean nursing home. When a private detective hires octogenarian Sergio to go undercover and investigate complaints of patient mistreatment, nobody foresees the story that unfolds. By turns touching, tragic, hilarious and profound, The Mole Agent is a cry for help from a discarded generation, and indisputable proof that there is life in these old dogs yet. Stanley Kwan This year’s Pan-Chinese Cinema showcase is headlined by a retrospective of director-in-focus Stanley Kwan Kam-pang, lauded for highlighting the unique struggles of female and queer characters. The festival is screening 13 of Kwan’s films, including masterpieces such as Rouge and Center Stage (in its director’s cut), early works Women and Love Unto Wastes , as well as the documentary Yang Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema , which features a touching conversation between the director and his own mother. 30th Anniversary of Jet Tone Films Four landmark classics from director Wong Kar-wai – Fallen Angels , Happy Together , In the Mood For Love , and 2046 – are to be screened in newly restored versions that aim not only to preserve the films as they were when first released, but also to improve and optimise the audio and visual experience for viewers. In some circles this degree of tinkering with Wong’s beloved works has sparked controversy, but the opportunity to experience them on the big screen is not to be missed. Tih Minh Among the numerous “restored classics” screenings at this year’s festival is French pioneer Louis Feuillade’s 12-part action serial from 1918. Screening in four parts, each featuring three episodes, the series follows a young Laotian woman as she travels to France with an adventurer who is unwittingly in possession of a treasure map. Following the international success of Fantomas and Les Vampires , Tih Minh is a roller coaster thrill-ride set against the nightmarish backdrop of a world ravaged by war. Shochiku centenary The powerhouse Japanese studio celebrated its centenary in 2020, and to mark the occasion, HKIFF is screening 10 films from 10 of its most acclaimed filmmakers. Masterpieces from Kenji Mizoguchi ( The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum ), Kinoshita Keisuke ( Twenty-Four Eyes ) and Yasujiro Ozu ( Equinox Flower ) screen alongside exciting genre classics such as Harakiri (by Kobayashi Masaki), The Yellow Handkerchief (Yoji Yamada) and Vengeance Is Mine (Shohei Imamura), which together serve as a vivid introduction to the very best of what Japanese cinema has to offer. The Hong Kong International Film Festival runs from April 1 to 12 in a hybrid format, featuring screenings and audience-engagement events simultaneously in-theatre and online. For full programme details, visit hkiff.org.hk . Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook