Making Waves Montreal 2023
Presented by Hong Kong International Film Festival Society in association with Asian Pop-Up Cinema, Chicago, USA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Montreal, 5 September, 2023 – MAKING WAVES MONTREAL (MWM) will present its inaugural edition from 20 to 22 October at Cineplex Forum.
Brought to you by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS) in collaboration with Asian Pop-Up Cinema, Chicago, and with support from Create Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (Toronto), the festival will showcase a curated selection of works by emerging directors from Hong Kong.
The programme will feature six feature-length films, all with their Montreal premieres. Some directors and principal cast members from these films will be specially flown in from Hong Kong to introduce their works and engage in Q&A sessions.
The Festival will begin with a screening of director Ho Cheuk-Tin’s Over My Dead Body. The film follows a group of residents who experience a night of chaos and hilarity when the naked body of a man appears, threatening to cause scandal and plummet property values. Cheuk Tin is an up-and-coming director whose debut film, the courtroom drama The Sparring Partner, which had a sold-out screening at the Fantasia International Film Festival earlier in the summer, has taken Hong Kong by storm. It is the highest-grossing Category III-rated film in Hong Kong and has received 16 nominations for the Hong Kong Film Awards 2023, including Best Film, Best Director, Best New Director, and more. The Over My Dead Body screening will take place at Cinemas Cineplex Forum et VIP, 2313 Rue Sainte Catherine Ouest, on Friday, 20 October. Jennifer Yu and Wong You-Nam will be present to answer questions about the film.
Actress Lam Chin-Ting will present her film Lonely 18, a poignant story about how family influences the growth of a young woman. The film follows Elaine, who grew up in poverty in the 1980s, and her best friend Ying as they enter the Hong Kong entertainment industry to change their fate.
Director Lawrence Kan will also join us for a Q&A session to discuss his role in directing In Broad Daylight, a film based on actual events that reveal a lesser-known truth about residential care homes for the disabled, hidden beneath the headlines.
Asian Pop-Up Cinema in Chicago is thrilled to launch the festival in Montreal in collaboration with the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society. The selection promises to showcase a new generation of Hong Kong filmmakers breaking new ground by moving away from martial arts-action flicks and instead telling culturally relevant and stylistically sophisticated stories.
The full lineup and the link to get tickets will be announced September 20th, 2023.
ABOUT SOPHIA’S CHOICE / ASIAN POP-UP CINEMA
Asian Pop-Up Cinema, a semi-annual Asian Film Festival, is the brainchild of Sophia Wong Boccio, founder of Sophia’s Choice, a Chicago-based 501 C (3) not-for-profit incorporated in 2015 with the multi-pronged mission of cultivating an interest in and understanding of Asian cultures via a diverse offering of Asian films; connecting the Asian film industry with local Chicago film professionals, educators, and students; and promoting Chicago as a destination for international visitors.
About The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto)
HKETO Toronto is the official representative of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China in Canada. Since the office's establishment in October 1991, they have been actively fostering closer economic and trade ties between Hong Kong and Canada.
About The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society Limited (HKIFFS)
HKIFFS is a charitable, non-profit and non-governmental organization dedicated to discovering and promoting creativity in film art and culture. It organizes the annual Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) and the Hong Kong - Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF). Another highlight is the Cine Fan Summer International Film Festival (SummerIFF), held every August. In 2021, HKIFFS restructured its film industry services and set up HKIFF Industry to promote and support non-mainstream film industry development through co-production, festival strategies, and overseas distribution (HKIFF Collection).
About Create Hong Kong (CreateHK)
CreateHK is a dedicated office under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Government of the HKSAR to lead, champion and drive the development of the creative economy in Hong Kong. It coordinates governmental policy and effort regarding creative industries, focuses governmental resources on promoting and speeding up the development of creative industries in Hong Kong, and works closely with the trade to boost the growth of creative industries.
Connect with Asian Pop-Up Cinema:
Facebook: facebook.com/asianpopupcinema.org
X (formerly known as Twitter): asianpopupcine
Instagram: @asianpopupcinema
Vimeo: vimeo.com/asianpopupcinema
For more information, high resolution images and interview:
Karine Delage
Karyzma Agency
416.876.3329
karine@karyzmaagency.com