Flora Lau’s debut feature is a beautifully formed, subtle film that focuses on the lives of two people with very different prospects – a wealthy Hong Kong woman and her mainland Chinese chauffeur – both trying to cope with life’s unexpected dramas. Anna (Carina Lau) struggles to maintain appearances with her status-conscious friends after her husband mysteriously vanishes. Fai’s (Chen Kun) wife is heavily pregnant with their second child, has no health care entitlements in Hong Kong and cannot give birth in their homeland without incurring penalties for breaching the one-child policy. While their daily routines intersect, their fates only momentarily converge and Lau elegantly critiques the social contradictions at play by paralleling their predicaments rather than constructing drama between the two protagonists. (Source: LFF programme)
You May Also Like
A father faces a personal crisis when he discovers his estranged son fleeing a botched drug deal. The two men embark on a violent odyssey that grapples with themes of fatherhood, family and date.
David’s life is on the slide: he’s broke, in the middle of a divorce and ‘can’t get it up’. His girlfriend, Alice, is his rock, but the magazine she writes for is going down and the pressure is on to find a story. While job hunting online, David stumbles across the perfect antidote to his boredom: a ‘Swingers’ site. The resulting inbox of lewd invitations on the home-laptop justifiably upsets Alice, until she realises this could be just the ‘story’ she needs. The idea of uncovering the swinging scene causes quite a stir in Alice’s office and, much to David’s chagrin, she is urged to pursue the story. Their first reluctant foray is an hysterically low-rent initiation, however, an unexpected upturn for David’s manhood is all the extra encouragement they need. As events accelerate beyond their control the once adoring couple become lost and fundamental questions are asked of their relationship.
A high school princess is cursed by the geek whose affections she toyed with.
A special forces team is sent to snuff out a drug den, but find themselves trapped inside it after being set-up and betrayed.
Woody Allen meets Frances Ha in this new British drama by first-time feature director, poet, actor and publisher Greta Bellamacina. Greta also stars as Celeste, a young mother trying to carve out a career as a poet in modern-day London. Meanwhile, friend and neighbour Stella (played by co-writer Sadie Brown), dreams of being an actor but spends much of her time babysitting Celeste’s son. Part ode to the city, this is a skilfully observed tale of friendship and family with a refreshingly understated sense of humour.
A brutal home-jacking goes hopelessly wrong. Dave, one of the two robbers, manages to run off, leaving his brother Kenneth behind. Four years later, Kenneth is released from prison and much has changed. Dave has his life back on track and is trying to help Kenneth however possible, but is witnessing how the highly strung Kenneth tries to win back his ex-girlfriend Sylvie.
In the aftermath of a traumatic event, a suburban husband and father buys a cutting edge home security system, only to find that it slowly destroys that which he most wants to protect.
Paul Hogan plays Charlie McFarland and Shane Jacobson plays his estranged son, Boots. After a family tragedy Charlie and Boots try and put their differences aside and head off on the road trip of a lifetime – from regional Victoria to the Cape York Peninsula – they overcome many challenges to reach their dream – to fish off the northern most tip of Australia.
A same-sex couple’s romantic getaway is put in jeopardy by the arrival of Caroline.
A family living in Marfa, Texas attempts to pull themselves back together after a horrific tragedy. This provocative sequel to Larry Clark’s film Marfa Girl, shows us a group of people ready to escape their current realities – no matter the cost. Gritty, unrelenting and powerful, auteur Clark once again delivers a bleak landscape of sex, drugs and boredom amongst the residents of a dead-end Texas Border town.
This erotically charged drama from Japanese director Ryuichi Hiroki (Vibrator) traces the intersecting stories of a group of employees and visitors at a notorious “love hotel” in Tokyo’s red-light district.