Keep Rolling: Ann Hui's Counter-Cinema

As one of the most important Hong Kong filmmakers and whose work has often reflected the social, cultural and political concerns pertinent to the region, Ann Hui (1947–) has worked solidly to sustain a diverse career as a director, writer and producer for the last 45 years. She has also appeared in front of the camera and it is almost impossible to imagine the Hong Kong film industry during this rich era without her presence and influence. Born in mainland China, Hui moved with her family to Hong Kong as a young child, a shift that shaped much of the focus and sensibility of her filmmaking. After writing her Masters thesis on Alain Robbe-Grillet and training at London Film School in the early 1970s, she gained experience directing for TV – including an episode of Below the Lion Rock that launched her “Vietnam Trilogy” – and became a key member of the New Wave.

Although Hui personally eschews the description of herself as a feminist artist, she is undoubtedly “the most established female director in contemporary Hong Kong” (Audrey Yue). A genre pluralist, her films span martial arts, period drama, ghost stories, neo-noir, social realism and documentary. Refusing to compromise her artistic intent for commercial values, Hui consistently reworks these genres as a type of counter-cinema. She time and again engages with the power of personal and cultural memories, offering insights into Hong Kong’s fluid and diasporic identity as a refuge for mainland Chinese immigrants and global expatriates. The films selected for this season span Hui’s vast (although continually growing) and dynamic career as a director and include such key works as The Secret (1979), Boat People (1982), Song of the Exile (1990) and her most recent film, Elegies (2023).