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This downhearted human drama from first time director Danny Wong Hing Fan was a standout at the 4th London East Asia Film Festival in November 2019 in which Aaron Kwok won the Best Actor Award. It was nominated for nine awards including Best Film and Best Actor at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards. However, it only won the Best Supporting Actor award for Cheung Tat Ming who played Chatting Yeung. Aaron also sang the theme song “Grey Stardust” composed by Peter Kam.

In Hong Kong, homeless people spend their nights at 24-hour fast food restaurants dotted around the city, they sleep on the hard chairs and disappear at daybreak before customers come in, but they return during the night. This movie is about how these penniless McRefugees as they’re known, survive from day to day in a rather heartless big city and living under those circumstances.

If you want to get an impression about a nations culture, its society and politics, as well as the changes these aspects have gone through, a closer look at the urban landscape, its architecture and its people can certainly provide a huge part of the answer. Although gentrification and globalization have done their fair share of diminishing the uniqueness of many cities, especially the capitals of the world, there are still traces of the past and the present to be found in the streets of a city, which might indicate what the future holds in store. In the past years the city of Hong Kong, after the huge wave of protests in recent history, has been through massive social and political shifts, highlighting the unrest of the people, especially the young, but it has also been through other developments which have set their mark on the city’s structure. In...

Chicago – How do you communicate Hong Kong’s homeless situation in a fresh and relatable way? Wong Hing Fan’s new film “I’m Livin’ It” takes on not only poverty, but the shortage of housing for professional and working class people. The main setting is a 24 hour burger restaurant – with the sly marketing slogan of “I’m Livin’ It!”

Once a star in his finance firm, Bowen (Aaron Kwok) now spends his nights in that fast food joint, which allows the homeless an overnight respite area, and he encounters other “roommates” who are in a similar predicament. There is a child and her mother (Cya Liu) – who has taken out high interest loans to cover her mother-in-law’s debt, an old man (Alex Man) who is too afraid to go home, a young runaway (Zeno Koo), and a singer (Miriam Yeung) who was part of the financier’s past.

Entertaining Power, a film sales agent from Hong Kong, is launching “Spiders and “I’m Living It” at the Asian Film Market, part of the Busan International Film Festival.

“Spiders” is a topical and contemporary action adventure which follows a group of sailors, who come to believe that they are being stalked by a mutant creature from the depths of the ocean. Directed by Joe Chien, the now in-production picture stars Sunny Wang (“Pigeon Tango”), Rexen Cheng (“The Tag Along”), Lee Kang Sheng (“Stray Dogs”), Winona Yeung (“We Are Legends”), Lu Kung Wei (“Café Waiting Love”) and Lee Lee Zen (“The Mad King of Taipei Town”).

Chien has credits that include: “The House That Never Dies II,” “Zombie Fight Club,” “Zombie 108,” and “The Apostles”. “Spiders” is a co-production between Truffle Creative and Cultural and Entertaining Power Production (Hk).

“I’m Living It” which plays later this month in the Tokyo International Film Festival,...

Last month’s Hong Kong Film Awards was on a special mission. In addition to the usual star-studded glamour, the event was literally a stage for newcomers. Lesser-known young actors were given the opportunity to present awards as well as giving speeches to introduce the best film contenders to the audience.

The event, with 37 years of history behind it, has never felt so young and refreshing.

The special treatment given to the young actors was seen as a response to a crisis of the Hong Kong film industry. As established stars ranging from Chow Yun-fat and Andy Lau to international action heroes Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen age well into their 50s and 60s, there’s no new generation of local younger stars to follow in their footsteps.

“Hong Kong has a lot of great young talents but times have changed and they have less exposure and opportunities to practice their crafts in bigger,...