The 20th HKAFF is coming to an end after 31 days of screenings and events!

Mongolian film City of Wind  is the double winner of the "Young Jury Best Film" and "New Talent Award"! The Young Jury panel stated that the film is "Compelling and realistic, the mise-en-scene and cinematography vividly portrays the cultural characteristics of Mongolia as well as its modernization. In addition to that, these aspects also highlight the relationship between characters and their differing states of mind in each scene. Not to mention, the narrative and its depiction of adolescence meeting adulthood is both fascinating and relatable for audiences." While the New Talent Award Jury panel stated that "The film is a sincere and genuine portrait of a Mongolian young man’s story of growth placed between the modern and the traditional. I am touched by the actor’s earnest performance in his character and in the world of the story. The film successfully presented the poetic concept just as reflected in the original Mongolian film title, which is “walk up, wind”.

The creative teams of the two closing films Fly Me to the Moon and The Lyricist Wannabe both appeared at the cinema to meet the audience and share their feelings of making the films. 

Sasha Chuk, director of Fly Me to the Moon, shared on the starting point for writing the story: "I once heard about a line of lyrics from an old song, asking if the lilies have bloomed back in homeland. I don't why but it hit me, and then I wrote the story bringing in this feeling and the experience of my 6-year-old self, who moved to Hong Kong from Hunan." Lead actor Wu Kang-ren was unable to attend, and Chuk shared on his behalf, saying Wu was anxious about the age span of his character, that he worried his performance of a 60-year-old father might not be convincing, therefore he spent a lot of time observing grass roots residents in the Sham Shui Po district, and gave valuable opinion on his costume and make up design.

Several of the actresses present also shared their experinece. Golden Horse Award Best New Actress nominee Tse Wing-yan said: "Every time I watch this movie, I am still very emotional. It took me nearly a year to prepare for this role, to learn the Hunan dialect and tried my best to speak language like my mother tongue."; Zhou Lin, who was born in 1996, took on the challenge to play role that is older than her real age. Zhou stated that "I am touched to see so many audience supporting this film. The challenge is to speak the Hunan dialect, and we kept practising whenever the camera was not rolling." The two young actresses in the film who played the sisters in the film, thanked the audience for their support. 

The crew of the other closing film The Lyricist Wannabe gave a post-screening sharing amidst laughter. Director Norris Wong shared that the lyricist wannabe in the film was her personal portrayal. She even joked about how she views having dreams through her works: After filming My Prince Edward, I got married. Maybe after completing The Lyricist Wannabe and having written lyrics for nearly a hundred songs, I can become a real lyricist." Talking about the original intention of self-financed this film, producer Wong Hoi said frankly : "As we are self-financed, we have encountered different limitations, but everyone around us supported this dream of Norris's and mine, regardless of conditions. I am particularly touched to be able to watch it on the big screen together today."

The actors present also said that the atmosphere on the filming set was very harmonious. Golden Horse Award Best Actress nominee Chung Suet-ying shared: "The only thing that me and my character has in common is probably that I sold out light signs at the gate of the Coliseum. On the set while we waited to shoot, I also prepared props with Norris. The communication on different levels was very interesting." Sabrina Ng said that she was also pleasantly surprised: "Before watching the movie, I had expected a lot of laughs, but I didn't expect there to be many scenes that bring me to tears." Eric Kot, who plays the father of Chung's character in the film, jokingly shared: "Before filming, I heard a lot about Norris the director and screenwriter, who is a very special person. I am very happy to be a part of this movie that is full of youthful enthusiasm."