Renowned local film directors produce Lingnan Film 5.0 in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Lingnan University’s Re-establishment in Hong Kong

20 Jun 2018

Lingnan Film 5.0 Group photo

Guests take a group photo at the Premiere.

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Lingnan University’s Re-establishment in Hong Kong, the University’s Department of Visual Studies has engaged five renowned local film directors including Dr Johnnie To, Ms Mary Stephen, Mr Poon Hang Sang, Mr Adam Wong and Ms Lai Yan Chi to develop the Lingnan Film 5.0.  Premiere of the film series was held today (20 June) at the MCL Festival Grand Cinema, Festival Walk and well attended by staff, students, alumni and friends of the University.

 

“Liberal arts education is the key feature of Lingnan University, with the primary aim of cultivating global citizens with humanistic quality.  Well-educated and civilised, capability of critical thinking and serving the community are essential qualities of liberal arts education, as well as values that Hong Kong people are proud of.” said Dr Johnnie To, creative advisor of the project as well as Lingnan University’s Honorary Fellow.  With the help from teachers and students of Lingnan’s Department of Visual Studies, Dr To gathered a collection of audio-visual materials with the theme “liberal arts”, from which he edited a short film We Have the Fortune to Choose, Still... to showcase the liberal arts spirit of Lingnan.
 

Short films produced by the other four renowned local film directors Ms Mary Stephen, Mr Poon Hang Sang, Mr Adam Wong and Ms Lai Yan Chi are The Memory of Water, Green Dust, Bitter Sweet and The Bench respectively.  These four short films carry their distinctive styles and showcase Hong Kong’s unique stories and core values.  Please refer to the Appendix for brief descriptions of the short films.

 

Please click here for the trailer of the Lingnan Film 5.0.

 

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Appendix: Brief descriptions of Lingnan Film 5.0

 

We Have the Fortune to Choose, Still...

Dir Dr Johnnie To Kei-fung

 

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Lingnan University’s re-establishment in Hong Kong, Dr Johnny To collaborated with the Department of Visual Studies to recruit audio-visual works on the subject of liberal arts. Liberal Arts is a compilation video presented by Dr To to embody the liberal arts spirit of Lingnan University.

 

The Memory of Water

Dir Mary Stephen

 

Melanie returns to Hong Kong as filmmaker-in-residence at a university after living abroad for decades. She tries to redefine her cultural roots and affiliations, partly through the adventure of a tragic-comic romantic fantasy, partly through bonding with her young student Niki. Niki is making a documentary film with her mother about their family’s migration from China to their Hakka village in the New Territories. Melanie and Niki Both realise they are living with an original “molecule” that can’t be erased even after generations of dilution, the so-called “Memory of Water.”

 

Green Dust

Dir Poon Hang Sang

 

Despite happy appearances, Mr and Mrs Man are a quarrelling couple. Each keeps telling the other how much they have sacrificed for the family, not realising that their fights have been witnessed by their five-year-old daughter, Kei. One terrible day Mrs Man runs away. Mr Man then finds her in a park. The wall that divides them seems to be coming down.

 

Bitter Sweet

Dir Adam Wong

 

Singer-songwriter MC Heyo is revising a score for a dark chocolate commercial. His client is picky, and he takes a smoke break on the stairway outside his studio. There he meets former classmate Ar Faat. Together they reminisce about their younger days; Faat reveals how Heyo’s music has inspired him.

 

The Bench

Dir Mo Lai Yan-Chi

 

Sitting on a park bench waiting for his girlfriend, a man experiences the usual stuff over the years. He has gotten used to it. He is a Hongkonger, but in the eyes of others, he is always different. He and his girlfriend are an ordinary couple minding their own business. How far can this ordinary romance go?