We’re excited to tell you about CRIME: Hong Kong Style, the UK’s biggest and boldest celebration of Hong Kong Cinema to date.
Curated by Andy Willis, Reader in Film Studies at the University of Salford and also our Senior Visiting Curator (Film), the season will showcase 20 titles, including everything from cult movies (Police Story, As Tears Go By), classics (Infernal Affairs, Election) to forgotten gems (Too Many Ways to be No.1, Portland Street Blues); with UK Premieres (Dante Lam’s That Demon Within and Ringo Lam’s Wild City) and One Hour Intros and Q&As with leading figures from the Hong Kong film industry.
According to film experts, there has undoubtedly been a recent surge in interest in global Chinese cinema, primarily focusing on films produced in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) such as the BFI’s 2014 Electric Shadows season, a five-month programme celebrating China’s rich film tradition.
Building on this interest, CRIME: Hong Kong Style aims to allow audiences to reconnect with the innovative contribution of the Hong Kong film industry to the ever popular genre of crime film. Its programme focuses on the influence of Hong Kong filmmakers on one of global cinemas most enduring genres, including films from the 1980s and 1990s ‘golden era’ of the Hong Kong gangster film but also works from the 60s and 70s – revealing the complex and rich heritage of Hong Kong crime films often unknown to UK audiences. The programme will also include striking contemporary Hong Kong crime films that show an awareness of the city’s history in their self-reflexive style and reworking of the genre’s codes and conventions.
Andy Willis said: “This programme will represent much more than the stereotypical images of triad gangsters wielding machetes on the neon-lit streets of Kowloon – though there may be some machete wielding going on. We want to allow audiences to connect and re-connect with iconic Hong Kong crime films that excite, entertain and often also educate.”
Rachel Hayward, CRIME: Hong Kong Style Producer, added: “We’re particularly excited to be welcoming guests from the Hong Kong crime film industry, who will also be visiting some of the touring venues for special Q&A’s and events. This is the biggest film season event in the UK to date that recognises and showcases the quintessential role the Hong Kong crime film genre plays in global cinema.”
CRIME: Hong Kong Style is also set to tour the UK, with 30 partnering venues confirmed to screen a selection of the films, including Glasgow Film Theatre, Queens Theatre in Belfast, Showroom in Sheffield, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Broadway in Nottingham and Quad in Derby.
Full programme details including screening dates and times, and information on how to book tickets, will be announced in January 2016.
CRIME: Hong Kong Style is presented with the support of the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery.