Film And TV
10 Nov 23

Dublin International Film Festival announces Making Waves – a celebration of contemporary Hong Kong cinema

Cyber Heist (dir. Hing Fan Wong)

Making Waves' opening night gala takes place in the Light House Cinema next month.

Some of Hong Kong's most thrilling contemporary filmmakers are set to be showcased in Dublin as part of a special season of cinema: Making Waves. Presented by Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF), the programme is set to run from December 1–3, at Dublin's Light House Cinema.

'Making Waves: Navigators of Hong Kong Cinema' is a touring film programme that has travelled to cities across the world, celebrating the best of Hong Kong film.

Dublin's Making Waves season – co-presented with Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, and supported by CreateHK – will kick off with an opening night gala on Friday, December 1, which will include a screening of the 2023 action-thriller Cyber Heist. The film's director, Hing Fan Wong, is one of three special guests who will be in attendance in Dublin for Making Waves, alongside Back Home director Nate Ki and Vital Sign actor Neo Yau Hawk-Sau.

Hing Fan Wong

Hing Fan Wong's Cyber Heist follows cyber security engineer and IT whiz Kelvin Cheuk (Aaron Kwok), who uses a firewall he developed to fight back against a large-scale cyber attack, and the hackers behind it.

Back Home, meanwhile, stars Anson Knong of famed Cantopop group Mirror, as Heung Wing – who left his native Hong Kong for Canada many years ago, hoping to escape his visions of ghosts. When his mother's suicide attempt leaves her in a coma, however, he must return home, and face his past. The film, Nate Ki's feature debut, creatively combines classic horror tropes with elements of southern Chinese mythology.

Back Home

The lives of Hong Kong paramedics are explored in Vital Sign, in which Making Waves' special guest Neo Yau Hawk-Sau features as the young new partner to a veteran ambulance-worker. Clashes ensue in this dramedy that addresses both the city's civil service culture, and its latest emigration wave.

Other films set to be showcased as part of Making Waves include Wai-Lun Ng's A Guilty Conscience, Lawrence Kwan Chun Kan's In Broad Daylight, and Patrick Tam's Nomad.

"Dublin International Film Festival is proud to announce the Making Waves season of Hong Kong cinema, in partnership with Hong Kong International Film Festival," comments DIFF's Festival Director, Grainne Humphreys. "Our line-up showcases the best of contemporary films from Hong Kong right now, and celebrates the city’s cinematic heritage. We hope to bring something fresh to the Dublin film scene and platform a cinema culture that is under-represented in Ireland, for both seasoned cinema goers and new viewers alike."