Preview – Hong Kong International Film Festival to Celebrate Brigitte Lin

Brigitte Lin Ching-Hsia is the “Filmmaker in Focus” at the 42nd Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF42). The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS) will celebrate her remarkable achievement in the cinema by screening 14 of her films, from her recently restored debut Outside the Window to her final masterpiece Ashes of Time.

A highly acclaimed actress, Lin is an enduring iconic figure for her legendary beauty and distinguished performances. She has captivated the audience since her acting debut in renowned Taiwanese director Sung Tsun-Shou’s Outside the Window, in which she starred as a delicate young girl entangled in love. In the newly restored version, fans can once again adore her natural charm that turned her into an overnight sensation.

Her subsequent performances in notable romantic dramas in the seventies, including Ghost of the Mirror directed by Sung Tsun-Shou, The Dream of the Red Chamber directed by LI Han-hsiang and Cloud of Romance, written and produced by famous novelist Chiung Yao, have established her unrivaled status as a celebrated star who represents the golden era of Taiwanese cinema. The Dream of the Red Chamber also marked her first cross-gender performance in the role of Jia Baoyu, paving the way for similar persona in which she excels in embodying both femininity and masculinity.

With the Hong Kong New Wave flourishing in the eighties, Lin’s career continued to blossom. Her versatility ranges over various film genres: panic-stricken in Patrick Tam Kar-ming’s Love Massacre; audacious in Teddy Robin’s All the Wrong Spies; struggling between filial piety and patriotism in Tsui Hark’s Peking Opera Blues; and intrepid in fighting for her love, career and social justice in Ann Hui’s Starry is the Night.

Her acting career surged to new heights in the nineties, taking home the Award for Best Actress at the Golden Horse Awards for her outstanding performance in Hong Kong filmmaker Yim Ho’s Red Dust. She also pursued other artistic endeavors, acting in both the theatrical and film production of Taiwan director Stan Lai’s The Peach Blossom Land. She has created some of the most iconic characters in contemporary Chinese cinema: the androgynous martial arts monarch in Swordsman II, directed by Ching Siu-tung and produced by Tsui Hark; the heartbroken femme fatale in The Bride with White Hair, directed by Ronny Yu; the cool, blonde assassin behind spy sunglasses in Chungking Express and the schizophrenic brother-sister duo-in-one in Ashes of Time, both directed by Wong Kar Wai.

Apart from watching her classics on the big screen, audiences will also have the opportunity to meet the legendary star in person. Lin will attend the “Face to Face” seminar to be held on 31 March, 2018 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, and will share her insights on film, art and life. Admission is free with online registration. Please check HKIFF website or Facebook page for registration opening date.

Selected Films

Outside the Window (1973)

Ghost of the Mirror (1974)

The Dream of the Red Chamber (1977)

Cloud of Romance (1977)

Love Massacre (1981)

All the Wrong Spies (1983)

Peking Opera Blues (1986)

Starry is the Night (1988)

Red Dust (1990)

Swordsman II (1992)

The Peach Blossom Land (1992)

The Bride with White Hair (1993)

Chungking Express (1994)

Ashes of Time Redux (1994/2008)