Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival Coming On June 22

Leslie Cheung over 4 years ago

On June 22, Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival is bringing 20 international shorts to Louis Koo Cinema. The festival was founded in 2015 as an online film festival designed to support filmmakers and celebrates the best of contemporary independent filmmaking. There will be 2 screening sessions:

Session 1 (reception: 18:30, screening: 19:00 - 21:00)

Interrogation (United Kingdom) by Ivo Krankowski

How to get to the bottom of things. An examination of the nature of truth in a tense interview situation.​

Duration: 00:01:08

Birth Of A Poet (United States) by James Franco, Pedro Gómez Millán, Zachary Kerschberg

Birth Of A Poet is a dramatic short film that captures the moment Stephen Dobyns transitions from a disillusioned journalist to an emerging poet. It is adapted from autobiographical poems.​

Duration: 00:14:23

Magic Kingdom (United States) by Nelson Ng Chak Hei

The story is set in 1997 against the backdrop of the looming handover. Kit, a middle-aged single parent, brings his son from Hong Kong to California under the pretense of visiting Disneyland. The son, Chun, comes to realize the real intention of the trip is for his own adoption.​

Duration: 00:15:00

In Passing (Canada) by Esther Cheung

A portrait of seventies Hong Kong as the director's parents remember it.

Duration: 00:04:08​

Festivals: BFI London FF (UK)

Forgive And Not To Forgive (Hong Kong) by Elysa Wendi

Shared dialogues between Chang Yan and Chen Jun about their childhood trauma, contemplating the hatred they feel towards their fathers. Body movements and memories in the intimacy of an unknown space. One chooses to forgive, another one chooses not to.

Duration: 00:05:46

Asian premiere

Festivals: Dan.cin.Fest (France), Brussels Independent FF (Belgium)​​

Fifteen (United Kingdom) by Peiman Zekavat

A private video of Maria goes viral during a volleyball class in a school in Lima.​

Duration: 00:10:00​

Festivals: BFI London FF (UK), HollyShorts FF (USA)

Fracture (United States) by Cynical Smile (Karl Richter)

A study of discomfort and a focus on the spaces in our mind that are constantly interrupted by in an age distraction.

Duration: 00:03:45

International premiere

ON (Australia) by Jelena Sinik

In our age of attention scarcity, ‘On’ explores just where our gaze is falling. Take a curious and playful glimpse into both the connectedness and enduring loneliness of the modern condition, through this intimate and unexamined lens.​

Duration: 00:02:05​

Asian premiere

Festivals: Atom Awards (Australia), Byron Bay FF (Australia), Sydney World FF (Australia)

Fragile Machines (United States) by Derek Johnson, Luke Smithers

Fragile Machines is an independent art film which tells the story of a married couple and the affairs that make their relationship irreparable. ​

Duration: 00:06:07​

Asian premiere

Festivals: Brussels Independent FF (Belgium)

Pura Vida (Slovakia) by Martin Gonda

Financial crisis enters the households of a provincial town and people start to lose their jobs. Two adolescent brothers rebel against their father, a factory foreman, who becomes a scapegoat for the frustrated community.

Duration: 00:30:00​

Asian premiere

Festivals: Cannes FF, Cinéfondation

Session 2 (reception: 20:30, screening: 21:00 - 23:00)

Fluorescent (Israel) by Avner Pinchover

A fluorescent bulb is shot from a cannon at high speed against a wall. At 3,000 frames per second and in its last moment, it can finally shed its inner light.​

Duration: 00:02:09​

Festivals: Brussels Independent FF (Belgium)

Love (Canada) by Benoit Ouellet

The friendship between Sam and Mathieu ends.​

Duration: 00:04:42​

Festivals: Toronto Arthouse FF (Canada)

023_GRETA_S (Germany) by Annika Birgel

A young actress' audition quickly spirals out of control, turning into an intimate and manipulative interrogation. As she fights to stand her ground, one pressing question will remain: how far will she go to get the role? 023_GRETA_S is a disquieting drama about the abuse of power in the film industry.

Asian premiere

Festivals: Slamdance FF (USA), FEST New Directors, New Films (Portugal), Boston Short FF (USA)

Petty Thing (China) by Li Zexi

The summer afternoon was no special, until the kids, also gun fight lovers, hung around in the village and found a replica pistol. As the trigger was pulled, the whole wood was awakened.

Duration: 00:03:46​

Festivals: Super Shorts London FF (UK)

Field of Infinity (United Kingdom) by Guli Silberstein

Inspired by Renaissance paintings and contemporary news broadcasts from Gaza protests - the work processes human gestures and figures in landscape into a dark and colourful scramble. An array of reflections, including concerns about the political image, image of the political, the politics of the image, and the image of image.​

Duration: 00:05:22​

Festivals: Super Shorts London FF (UK), Venice Film Week (Italy)

Matter Out Of Place (United States) by Oona Taper

Intimate portrait. Blurred line. Exploration of presence and absence. An experimental animation.​

Duration: 00:02:28​

Festivals: Anthens Animfest (Greece)

Under The Flag (United States) by Jiawei Cheng

A driven and conscientious girl at China's premier dance school gets the lead position in a prestigious performance but struggles to accept it after she learns that her mother has bribed the teacher to buy her the part.

Duration: 00:14:59

Festivals: AFI Fest (USA)

Survival HK (Hong Kong) by Louise Pau

An english listening test takes place inside a small classroom while a typhoon brews outside. The students struggle to focus between the test recording and what happens beyond the test.​

Duration: 00:07:06​

Festivals: Zagreb FF (Croatia), GLAS Animation Festival (USA), IFVA Festival (Hong Kong)

Drifting (United States) by Hanxiong Bo

Disguised as a girl growing up during the time of one-child policy in China, Yan is confused about his gender identity and struggles with the conservative world around him. Drifting in his dad's old taxi becomes a way of expressing feelings. Tonight, he gets on a dreamy journey to find his missing sister.

Duration: 00:16:25​

Festivals: San Sebastian FF (Spain), Busan International FF (Korea), Atlanta FF (USA)

The Manila Lover (Norway) by Johanna Pyykkö

During a trip to the Philippines, middle-aged, Norwegian Lars has met Abigail - the Filipina he wants to share his life with. But does she share his plans?

Duration: 00:26:27​

Asian premiere

Festivals: Cannes Film Festival, Critics Week (France), Helsinki International FF (Finland)

You can now reserve tickets to join the sessions via the festival's website.