Let the bonding begin. Hong Kong is featuring a two-month-long arts festival -- Le French May. In addition to music, dance and theater, a film program titled, "NOIR - A Film Noir Retrospective Bridging France and Hong Kong," has rolled out.
The festival features some of the best French crime movies from the last decade, it also includes a selection of classics from masters of the genre such as Jean-Pierre Melville, Bertrand Tavernier and Claude Chabrol.
The highlight of the program, however, has to be "Carte Blanche to Johnnie To" -- a collection of the very best Hong Kong gangster films influenced by the film noir genre. Arranged in close association with Milkyway Image and featuring the director's own personal choices, the festival will give audiences the chance to see films like "A Better Tomorrow," "City on Fire" and "As Tears Go By" on the big screen, as well as rarities such as Ann Hui's "The Secret," Wong Tin Lam's 1960 thriller "The Wild, Wild Rose." And Tsui Hark will be introducing the director's cut of his controversial "Dangerous Encounters: First Kind," which has not screened in Hong Kong for three decades.
The festivities kicked off last night with such luminaries as Johnnie To, Jacques Audiard and composer Xavier Jamaux in attendance, who will also be conducting a special filmmakers masterclass on June 5 free of charge. The program runs until June 26.
The official website includes information about the films screening and ticketing.
Thanks to Twitchfilm.com
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