Editor

The 41st Hong Kong International Film Festival will present "Edward Yang, 10-year Commemoration", a retrospective of the late director's works.  Cinephiles can enjoy the rare opportunity to revisit all of his seven feature films, including the newly restored classics Taipei Story (1985) and A Brighter Summer Day (1991).

Hailed as one of the greatest Chinese filmmakers of modern times, Edward YANG chartered the course of the New Taiwanese Cinema of the 1980s, influencing generations of filmmakers with his vision and aesthetics, and his critical observation of the contemporary world.  His debut feature, That Day, On the Beach (1983), already demonstrated his innovative approach to narrative in tracing the divergent paths of two friends through an intricate series of flashbacks. 

Screening for the first time in Hong Kong, the two newly restored classics are not-to-be-missed: Taipei Story (1985) spirals out the past and the future of Taipei through a slow dissolution of a couple's romantic relationship; A Brighter Summer Day (1991) is YANG's painstaking reconstruction of a deliberately forgotten era, a monumental film that carries a vision and impact unmatched in Chinese language cinema. 

The somewhat dreamlike The Terrorizers (1986) reveals a sense of estrangement and stifling life in the modern city.  His two satirical comedies, A Confucian Confusion (1994) and Mahjong (1996), are reflections and critiques of the enormous transformation of Taiwanese society in the last decade of the 20th century.  A One and a Two (2000), a cryptic and beautifully nuanced story of a middle-class family, is his final contemplation on life's complexities.

Hsiao Yeh, a long-time partner of the director and screenwriter of The Terrorizers, will visit the Hong Kong International Film Festival to discuss his collaboration on A Brighter Summer Day.  Kaili PENG, YANG's widow who was responsible for the original score in A One and a Two, will also attend the festival as a guest speaker to meet the audience.

On the occasion of the retrospective the Festival will also publish a revised edition of its original programme catalogue "The One and Only, Edward Yang" from 2008.  The Festival is also delighted to announce that Moleskine is producing a special edition notebook celebrating the work of Edward YANG as part of its annual partnership with Moleskine.

For details, please refer to the announcement on the HKIFF41 official website and HKIFFS Facebook page.