Fresh Wave

Leaving music school, the happy-go-lucky Ling returns to Hong Kong to her dementia-stricken father, on whom she tries to conduct music therapy. Her demurer older sister Munn, the caretaker and sole supporter of the family, watches with disapproval. Playing the piano piece her father once taught her, Ling seems to register some change in her father’s condition, a glimmer of hope amidst the abyss of oblivion. However, secret animosity and rivalry eventually leads to open conflict between the two sisters, bringing out long-time family traumas. Will music save them?

What’s the price one will pay for one’s beliefs? Chan Siu-yau’s life is forced to a halt after being charged, somewhat belatedly, with unlawful assembly and assaulting a police officer during a demonstration in support of striking dock workers over a year ago. In the eyes of fellow activists, she’s no radical, just a concerned citizen singled out for punishment amid an escalating tug-of-war between law enforcement authorities and rights advocates. While Yau is working her shift in a restaurant, busy taking orders and sorting out dirty dishes, the annual June 4 candlelight vigil takes place in the pelting rain, bodies soaked but high spirits undamped. Having missed her university admission exams with two criminal charges looming over her head, what does the future hold for her? Is she guilty as charged?

At first glance, Grandma Mui and Uncle Cheung look just like another ordinary elderly couple loitering outside a school wall. Grandma Mui is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and her conditions deteriorate notably after the death of her granddaughter Ka-ching from a fall off the school building, with the school officials suspected of negligence and being dishonest in their testimony. Stricken by grief, Grandma Mui’s mind falls into complete chaos as memories, delusions and reality mesh together. Uncle Cheung, indirectly connected to Ka-ching’s death, lacks the courage to tell the truth. As an act of atonement, he takes care of Grandma Mui even when the future looks bleak.

Single father Tsui meets university student Gigi who works at an old-fashioned barber shop that Tsui frequents. They bond immediately and begin a profound exchange. The fleeting friendship is a pleasant surprise during times of vulnerability, but does not help to overcome their individual challenges and demons. Tsui continues to put off dealing with a pressing matter that has long been eating him. Amidst the social unrest, Gigi’s outlook and musings on life lead Tsui to reflect on the unsolved matter and he eventually makes an important decision.

A story taking place in a Hong Kong with a different history. Hong Kong has not undergone a transfer of sovereignty in 1997. In 2003, a teenager, Lap Yan stays at home because of SARS. A girl who is a new neighbor of Lap Yan visits him and stays with him all day. Lap Yan does not realise the outside world is changing, which will affect his own future.

Lai-sing, full of aspirations as a journalist, lives in Hong Kong with his sister Kei-mei. Their parents live in Hainan since retirement while Uncle Guoyou lives in Shenzhen. The family is separated until the third anniversary of the death of Lai-sing's grandmother. According to tradition, a monument has to be erected on this occasion, which brings the family members to meet up. The reunion slowly unveils the indiscernible distances and intimacies built over time. It is only through understanding and acceptance that they would cast aside their differences and show genuine care for each other.

In a traditional fishing village where most youngsters have left to work in the city, the older generations are left behind. Ren, a widow who lives in the village helps her neighbour, Mrs Wah, to deliver a gift to her son, Chung in the city. Ren finds out that Chung is leading a harsh life. Back in the village, there is no one with whom she can share this secret. The only refuge from the sleepless night is her deceased husband. A Thousand Sails is a short tale about the poignant separation between city and village, mother and son, life and death. With long shots and sophisticated art direction, Eric Tsang Hing-weng compellingly captures the actors’ performances, especially that of Professor Chow Po-chung’s surprising debut.

Call girl Ruby dates men for pay. Arrested, she seeks help from a lawyer client. He advises her to seek letters of mitigation from people with high social status, and to play along with the probation officer. By performing an act of penitence, Ruby may be given a more lenient sentence. The lies she tells the officer, initially mere tales to solicit sympathy, slowly reveal a heartbreaking story of someone let down by adults all her life.

A time and space that get mixed up, A brother and a sister, One who loves starting fire, Whereas the other loves extinguishing it, An unusual relationship.

The Winter Solstice has been for the Chinese an important family occasion; however, will this time-honoured tradition become obsolete? The children head back to their family home in the country to see their elderly mother. All seems well on the surface, but each faces their own crisis and difficulty: The eldest brother struggles to raise several kids; the well off second sister plans to leave Hong Kong; estranged from her husband, the younger sister keeps up appearances; and the youngest brother commits to the difficult career as a farmer. The cheerful, animated conversation at the dinner table is overshadowed by simmering anxieties.

Mable, the daughter of HK's infamous rogue cop is at a loss when her father's old debts lead to the murder of her mother. With the help of Inspector Lok and the sage guidance of her God Grandfather, she uncovers a truth she never could have imagined.

A girl called Christy is missing. The case haunts Detective Max, time and time again, leaving him with a sense of remorse. Following a trail, Max arrives at an abandoned school where he finds traces of a cult ritual and a murder scene. Suddenly he finds himself in a stylish bar where he sees his former colleague and Christy. Meanwhile the murderer is lurking behind... Will Max find hope and redemption from the dismal past? Shot in black and white, this mysterious thriller employs the stylistic elements of neo-noir and horror to recreate our urban terrors of missing people.

Gay partners Chan Yui and Ka Wing are happily in love, until Chan Yui enters a marriage of convenience with his lesbian friend Fung Ming to appease his parents. Under great pressure, Ka Wing is forced to accept this sham marriage but can things ever go back to normal?

The average person’s head has up to 100,000 hairs. Each strand may be unique in length and texture but they are said to bear our memories of sorrow and worry. Neighbors come to the old shop “Barber’s Time” to part with both their hair and bad memories. Although Cantonese style haircutting is on the slippery slope to extinction, barber shop owner Hoi-chuen wishes for his son Cheung-fat to manage the shop. Aspiring to be a writer like J. D. Salinger instead, Cheung-fat takes over “Barber’s Time” when his father had an accident. Just like his father, Cheung-fat develops rapport with the customers and provides guidance. His own life also turns around when a runaway girl comes to the shop. A magical heartwarming tale of community support and kindness, the short features Kaki Shum from the film “Weeds of Fire”.

As a con man who actually takes professional pride in his work as a psychic scam artist, Man Chun was just released from prison. Both his uncle and girlfriend try to set his path straight again, but he revels his old days of performing rituals to tell fortunes and 'heal' people. Having a clear conscience and defending his affirmations on being a charlatan, he reconnects with his master and continues with the old trade. While Man Chun is addicted to the psychic world and thriving, the patience of his loved ones is wearing thin. When unexpected circumstances unfold, will Man Chun retain his faith in his vocation?

Ageing is not all doom and gloom but can be super-duper fun. In a village far, far away from the city live a zany group of elderlies. Old Chap is a Chinese medicine doctor without a single patient, lascivious Old Ben is wheelchair-bound and confined in the village, while Moses the spiritual “flower child” always tries to connect with Mother Nature. When Chiara, Old Chap's granddaughter, appears suddenly as she decides to take a gap year from studying and turns Old Chap’s life upside down by putting on a pole dance show in his clinic, how will Old Chap reconcile with the shock of the new?

Ching’s parents are retirees ready to leave for Taiwan where a new chapter awaits them. The only thing holding them back is their daughter’s hesitation to join them. Unbeknownst to them, Ching is stuck in an affair with a married man. She is constantly teetering between trust and distrust, clinging on unfulfilled promises instead of letting go. Life has presented a difficult crossroad to her as she weighs between acting for her own good and following what the heart desires.

"The more difficulties you suffer, the more you need to change and overcome." A shadow of his former self, Siu-ho is a tattooist who works for the triad and put tattoos on betrayers as punishment. His best friend Tyson, a fighter past his prime of life, also succumbs to reality and works on a job which he detests. As both of them experience a desperate period in their lives, they try to remind themselves the pursuit of life through the pain of tattooing and fighting. Fame and glory are not their goals, but feeling alive is. With too many forces in the city threatening to dash their dreams, will they succeed in forging ahead?

"This is a story of fall: of falling into traps and for lies and scams, of falling in love and falling out of love, and of falling for your own lies and falling back into the old ways, spectacularly. Michelle enrols in a self-help course in the hope that she will make her married lover come to his senses and treats her right. When the chanting of positive self-affirmations – Peace! Friendship! Love! – descends into uncontrollable screaming and wailing, will the newly converted be able to see things in a new light or will she wrapped herself up in the shining armour of self-victimisation to keep her from hurting?"

Handover Law met his girlfriend, Rayna, at the last July 1st march in 2010. This year, they will march again to celebrate their meeting, his birthday and protest the government. This joyful day takes a turn when Rayna runs into her 'mainland Chinese' schoolmate.