Italian Premiere
Keep Rolling
好好拍電影 (Ho Ho Paak Din Ying)
Hong Kong, 2020, 113’, Cantonese, Mandarin
Directed by: Man Lim-chung
Producers: Jacqueline Liu, Man Lim-chung
Production Company: 6:00am Pictures
Cast: Ann Hui, Fruit Chan, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Josephin Siao, Andy Lau, Tsui Hark, Nansun Shi
Date of First Release in Territory: March 4th, 2021
From director Man Lim-chung, making his feature directorial debut, comes an intimate portrait of one of Hong Kong’s greatest filmmakers, Ann Hui. Over her 40 year career in film, Hui has overcome great obstacles, faced difficulties head on, and fiercely pressed on to create some of Hong Kong’s most seminal films. One of the only female directors of Hong Kong’s New Wave, she broke ground as a pioneer of her generation and paved the way for future filmmakers.
Featuring interviews with a who’s who of great filmmakers who have worked with (and been inspired by) Hui, along with an up close view of the director as she travels to promote her latest film, Keep Rolling presents a multi-faceted look at the life and career of a brilliant artist, who just so happens to also be the most awarded Hong Kong director of all time (more so than her male cohorts like Wong Kar Wai, Johnnie To and John Woo, who have a higher profile outside of Hong Kong). Hui has won more Best Director awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards than anyone else and received the Lifetime Achievement Award at Venice in 2020.
Director Man Lim-chung has been a frequent Hui collaborator as production designer and art director since July Rhapsody (2002), and crafts a very watchable film that is not just a rigamarole “talking heads” doc. Aside from the behind the scenes of the director working on The Golden Era (2014) and Our Time Will Come (2017), Man chooses to present his subject as she truly is, the ultimate Hong Konger in her natural habitat, hanging out with friends and family members, and going about her daily life, walking in her neighborhood, taking public transport, and taking care of her elderly mother. Many Hui fans can see that she herself embodies many of the characters in her landmark films like Song of the Exile (1990), The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (2006) and A Simple Life (2011).
Man Lim-chung
Man Lim-chung entered the filming industry after graduating from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University – School of Design in 1991. During his early years in his career, he assisted the most acclaimed art directors in Hong Kong such as Tony Au and William Chang on many Hong Kong blockbusters. He was awarded his first Hong Kong Film Award in 1999 for his art direction in Tempting Heart and began his career as one of Hong Kong’s most notable art directors. From 2002 onwards, he has been working with Director Ann Hui and has worked as her films’ art director for July Rhapsody, The Golden Era and Our Time Will Come.
FILMOGRAPHY
2020 – Keep Rolling