https://www.scmp.com/rss/318405/feed The 39th Hong Kong International Film Festival, which runs from March 23 until April 6, will screen 264 films from more than 50 countries. There will be world and Hong Kong premieres, appearances by acclaimed directors, and five awards will be presented. This is the page for all the Post’s coverage of the festival and other film events taking place during the period of the festival. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com WHEN I WAS 17 (in 1974), I was sentenced to death. I had tried to kill the king of Iran (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi), to get rid of the dictatorship. I attacked a policeman to get his gun, to shoot the king, but I was arrested. THE POLICE SHOT ME. The bullet came through my back and out of my stomach. I went to political prison, where the shah's secret police - Savak - tortured me so badly the shin of my left leg was destroyed. Because I was under 18, it was (later) decided I was too young to... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1761575/why-i-tried-kill-shah-iran-filmmaker-mohsen-makhmalbaf?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1761575/why-i-tried-kill-shah-iran-filmmaker-mohsen-makhmalbaf?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Apr 2015 02:45:30 +0000 Organiser’s lack of vision for 3D showings Scores of film buffs who attended a Hong Kong International Film Festival screening of The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet in 3D had to make a mad dash around Central last Saturday afternoon when they realised that the Hong Kong City Hall theatre, despite installing a stereoscopic projector this year for the purpose of showing 3D films, does not provide 3D glasses. Those without glasses had to go to either Pacific Place AMC in Admiralty or Palace IFC... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1758755/3d-needy-hong-kong-film-festival-forgets-stock-3d-glasses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1758755/3d-needy-hong-kong-film-festival-forgets-stock-3d-glasses?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2015 09:00:45 +0000 If Jafar Panahi was still looking to show the power of artistic expression over the filmmaking ban placed on him by the Iranian authorities in 2010, based on charges that he conspired to spread anti-Islamic propaganda, he has found an ideal approach with his new film — in good humour. A deserved Golden Bear (and Fipresci Prize) winner at the Berlin International Film Festival, Taxi is his third self-reflexive effort after 2011's This Is Not a Film and 2013's Closed Curtain, the latter of which... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1752435/taxi-ideal-vehicle-banned-iranian-director-poke-fun-his-predicament?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1752435/taxi-ideal-vehicle-banned-iranian-director-poke-fun-his-predicament?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Apr 2015 09:01:20 +0000 Iranian filmmakers at home and in exile are breaking free from restrictions - imposed both by their repressive government and by audience expectations - to form a creative wave that is increasingly winning attention internationally. The 2011 best foreign-language-film Oscar for Asghar Farhadi's A Separation placed the spotlight on what was coming out of the Islamic republic. But those in the film industry emphasise that other notable productions go well beyond regime-approved portrayals of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1748519/iranian-filmmakers-defy-regime-win-acclaim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1748519/iranian-filmmakers-defy-regime-win-acclaim?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2015 14:45:45 +0000 In '71, an action-packed thriller set in Northern Ireland during the conflict between Catholics and Protestants - known as the Troubles - a young British soldier must find his way back to his barracks. It's a story both simple and complex, a gripping chase movie that's also politically aware. Opening to rave reviews at home and abroad, the film has drawn attention to its star, 24-year-old English actor Jack O'Connell, who also had the lead role in Angelina Jolie's Unbroken. But '71 is perhaps... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1748518/new-action-drama-troubles-beset-belfast-thrills?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1748518/new-action-drama-troubles-beset-belfast-thrills?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2015 14:45:00 +0000 Cinema-goers can look forward to a host of new movies from Hong Kong filmmakers - including projects by veteran directors John Woo, Johnnie To Kei-fung, Derek Kwok Chi-kin, Fruit Chan Gor and Ringo Lam Ling-tung. There's also Wong Jing's 100th film, and several films from relative newcomers to the director's chair, among them screen veteran Nick Cheung Ka-fai, singer-turned-filmmaker Juno Mak Chun-lung, and actress Carrie Ng Ka-lai. And there's the usual sprinkling of sequels, such as  The... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1746022/hong-kong-filmmakers-announce-host-new-projects?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1746022/hong-kong-filmmakers-announce-host-new-projects?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Mar 2015 06:15:30 +0000 There a number of films that are well worth making a trip to the cinema to see during the Hong Kong International Film Festival, according to Post film editor Yvonne Teh. As of March 23, tickets were still available to the following (to see if a screening is sold out, check http://www.hkiff.org.hk/eng/programme/fullhouse.html):   Port of Call April 6, 6pm Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre Grand Theatre April 6, 7.15pm, MCL Telford Cinema Additional HKIFF Cine Fan screening: Apr... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1745283/where-see-posts-film-festival-picks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1745283/where-see-posts-film-festival-picks?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2015 07:47:50 +0000 Films will be screened as part of the Hong Kong International Film Festival at the following venues: The Metroplex, Kowloon Bay UA Cine Moko, Mong Kok MCL Telford Cinema, Kowloon Bay Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Theatre 1, Wan Chai Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Theatre 2, Wan Chai Hogn Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre, Tsim Sha Tsui Hong Kong City Hall Theatre, Central Hong Kong Science Museum Lecture Hall, Tsim Sha Tsui Hong Kong Space Museum Lecture Hall, Tsim... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1745296/film-festival-facts-venues-ticketing-and-websites?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1745296/film-festival-facts-venues-ticketing-and-websites?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2015 07:00:00 +0000 This year's Hong Kong International Film Festival may be slightly smaller than last year's edition, but its diverse offerings - 360 screenings of 264 films from more than 50 countries - still make it the largest film event in town. Quantity aside, this year's selection is strong on quality: the closing film, Port of Call, stars popular local actor Aaron Kwok Fu-shing, while there is also Orson Welles' 1947 classic The Lady from Shanghai, as well as winners of prestigious awards (such as Iranian... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1740279/your-guide-hong-kong-international-film-festival-2015?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1740279/your-guide-hong-kong-international-film-festival-2015?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2015 14:45:45 +0000 Copenhagen-based American director Joshua Oppenheimer has been deservedly lauded for accomplishing an unprecedented feat of non-fiction filmmaking with his acclaimed documentary The Act of Killing (2012): he got the perpetrators of brutal acts of torture and mass murder to gleefully reenact their crimes against humanity with elaborate costumes and special effects make-up on movie sets. In tracing the events of the Indonesian massacres of the mid-1960s — which took the lives of up to a million... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1740106/look-silence-harrowing-companion-piece-act-killing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1740106/look-silence-harrowing-companion-piece-act-killing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2015 14:45:00 +0000