Despite the challenges currently faced by the Hong Kong film industry, a wave of new filmmakers has emerged in recent years. Backed by government funding and the mentoring of experienced local producers and directors, these talents have seen encouraging box office results at home as well as festival play and some commercial success overseas. 

Unlike Hong Kong’s previous generation of filmmakers, which specialized in crime thrillers and martial arts action movies, these younger directors tend to work with much smaller budgets and focus on realistic characters and social issues relevant to their hometown of Hong Kong. Few of these filmmakers are aiming for mainland Chinese audiences, due to the high costs, cultural differences and censorship issues that complicate releasing films in that market. 

For nearly two decades now, the Hong Kong Film Development Council (HKFDC) has provided a range of funding programmes to support local filmmakers, including the Film Production Financing Scheme, which was enhanced by a ‘Relaxation Plan’ during the pandemic to ease some of the application requirements and increase funding limits. In addition, the HKFDC manages the First Feature Film Initiative (FFFI), which fully finances the directorial debuts of promising new directors and recently launched a co-production scheme to encourage Hong Kong talent to work with international filmmakers. 

Many projects financed under the FFFI are mentored by experienced filmmakers and producers such as Fruit Chan, Derek Yee and Stanley Kwan, while major Hong Kong production companies such as Emperor Motion Pictures (EMP), One Cool Group and Golden Scene are also working with new talent. While government support has been crucial in keeping the industry running, not all of these new-style Hong Kong films have public funding; Anselm Chan’s The Last Dance, currently the highest-grossing Hong Kong film of all time, was financed by EMP. 

In the list below, Deadline has profiled seven filmmakers at the forefront of this new wave, who already have a few films under their belt, as well as three first-time filmmakers who have recently made promising debuts. There were many more we could have included but decided to keep the list to filmmakers who have had a film released in the past two years.

ANSELM CHAN

A writer turned director, Anselm Chan directed two comedy dramas for Emperor Motion Pictures – Ready Or Knot (2021) and Ready Or Rot (2023) – before pitching them the script of The Last Dance, starring Dayo Wong and Michael Hui, the story of an out of work wedding planner who teams up with a Taoist priest to run a funeral business. Released last November, the film struck a chord with its realistic characters and depiction of ordinary family life and is now the highest-grossing Hong Kong film of all time with $18m. It also grossed $30m in China and is the third-highest grossing Hong Kong film of all time in the UK behind Kung Fu Hustle and In The Mood For Love. Chan is now scripting another project for EMP.

OLIVER CHAN SIU KUEN

Chan’s second feature, Montages Of A Modern Motherhood, premiered in Busan International Film Festival’s New Currents competition last year, the first Hong Kong film to do so since 2017, and later played in Tokyo International Film Festival’s Women’s Empowerment strand. The film, about a new mother struggling with self-identity and family pressure, is nominated for best actress (Hedwig Tam) and best supporting actor (Lo Chun Yip) at the upcoming Hong Kong Film Awards. Chan’s debut feature, Still Human (2019), starring Anthony Wong and Crisel Consunji in the story of a wheelchair-bound man and his domestic helper, won best new director prizes at both the Hong Kong Film Awards and Asian Film Awards, as well as audience awards at Osaka Asian and Udine Far East film festivals. It was fully financed by the FFFI and produced by Fruit Chan. 

JUN LI

From a background working as a journalist and obtaining a Masters in gender studies at the UK’s Cambridge University, Jun Li made his feature debut with Tracey (2018), starring Philip Keung as a trans woman transitioning in her fifties, which screened at Tokyo film festival. His second film, Drifting, tackled homelessness and addiction in Hong Kong, screened at Rotterdam and won a Golden Horse Award for best adapted screenplay. His most recent film, Queerpanorama, about a gay man who impersonates the people he has sex with, premiered in the Panorama section of Berlin film festival. Li says he doesn’t apply for government subsidy due to the perceived lack of commercial viability for LGBTQ+ films. Best Friend Forever picked up Queerpanorama for international sales. 

ADAM WONG

Wong’s most recent film, The Way We Talk, premiered at last year’s BFI London Film Festival, won best actress at last year’s Golden Horse Awards for Chung Suet-ying’s performance and has seven nominations for the upcoming Hong Kong Film Awards. Also starring Neo Yau and Marco Ng, the film follows three young friends with different conditions of deafness as they navigate identity and self-discovery in their daily lives in Hong Kong. Wong has previously directed five critically acclaimed features, mostly exploring youth culture, including The Way We Dance and its sequel The Way We Keep Dancing about street dance crews. The Way We Talk, produced by One Cool Film Production, was released theatrically in Hong Kong on February 20 and at the time of writing was still in theatres. 

NORRIS WONG YEE LAM

Like Oliver Chan, Wong is another female filmmaker who managed to move on from a promising debut to make a second film. Her first feature My Prince Edward (2020), funded through FFFI, starred Stephy Tang as a recently engaged Hong Kong woman trying to annul her secret sham marriage with a mainlander. It won best new director at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Her second film, The Lyricist Wannabe, is a semi-autobiographical comedy drama about a young woman attempting to become a Canto-pop lyricist. Starring real-life lyricist and actress Chung Suet-ying the film was self-financed and picked up by Edko Films for international distribution. It was nominated for best actress and adapted screenplay at the Golden Horse Awards and won best original film song at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Wong is currently scripting a new project working with producers Mabel Cheung and Winnie Tsang. 

RAY YEUNG

Yeung’s fourth film, All Shall Be Well, about the relationship between two elderly lesbians and how their families react when one of them passes away, premiered at this year’s Berlin film festival where it won the Teddy Award and a Panorama Audience Award. His previous film, Suk Suk (also known as Twilight’s Kiss), about two closeted gay Hong Kong men embarking on a relationship, premiered at Busan film festival in 2019 and played the following year in Berlin. It also won best actor (Tai Bo) and best supporting actress (Patra Au) at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Yeung studied law in the UK and worked as a solicitor before making two mostly English-language films, Cut Sleeve Boys (2006) and Front Cover (2015). He moved back to Hong Kong shortly afterwards to make Cantonese-language films. All Shall Be Well has five nominations at the upcoming Hong Kong Film Awards and has been playing in French cinemas for then weeks through Nour Films. He is currently working on his next script. 

PHILIP YUNG

Yung’s most recent film Papa premiered in competition at last year’s Tokyo International Film Festival and has 11 nominations including best film, director, screenplay and actor at the upcoming Hong Kong Film Awards. Released in Hong Kong last December, the film grossed a healthy $3m (HK$22.5m). It stars Lau Ching-wan in the real-life story of the relationship between a father and his son, who has been imprisoned for murdering his mother and sister whilst suffering an episode of mental illness. Starting out as a film critic, Yung directed two smaller films – Glamorous Youth (2009) and May We Chat (2014) – before making crime thriller Port Of Call, starring Aaron Kwok and produced by Mei Ah Entertainment, which won best screenplay at the Hong Kong Film Awards and best film at Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. He then made a big-budget Hong Kong-China co-production for Mei Ah, Where The Wind Blows, which was delayed for four years due to censorship issues. Papa is a wholly Hong Kong production with funding from the HKFDC. 

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