Masterclass with Hong Kong director Ann Hui

Hailed as one of the most important filmmakers of the Hong Kong New Wave, director, producer, screenwriter and actress Ann Hui is known for deeply humanistic works exploring a wide range social issues, in particular the stories of women. The recipient of a long list of awards at prestigious festivals, including a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at Venice in 2020, Hui’s films all have in common a blend of moving storytelling, grounded drama, and cinematic poetry. Despite this, relatively few of her films have screened or are available to view in the UK, which has left many of her key works unseen. Her films The Story of Woo Viet (1981), Boat People (1982) and Love in a Fallen City (1984) will be shown this April and May at The Garden Cinema, featuring in-person Q&A with the director.

Tony Rayns is a renowned British filmmaker, critic and festival programmer with a special interest in East Asia cinema. His writings appear in Sight & Sound, Film Comment, Artforum, Cine 21 and other periodicals. His previous publications include books on Fassbinder and Chinese, Korean and Japanese cinema, and he has contributed lengthy essays to studies of Edward Yang and Jia Zhangke. He has recorded commentaries on films for Criterion, Masters of Cinema among other DVD/Blu-ray labels, and contributed to the English subtitling of numerous Chinese-language films, including Ann Hui’s Visible Secret (2001), A Simple Life (2011), Our Time Will Come (2017) and Love After Love (2020).

The event, held on 17 April 2025, was part of The Garden Cinema’s Hong Kong New Wave: 1979-1989 season, in partnership with the Chinese Cinema Project and Focus Hong Kong, supported by Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London. The conversation event was a joint presentation by The Garden Cinema, King’s College London and London Film School.