Movie
Ann Hui's Humanistic Hong Kong
Unadorned and deeply empathetic, capturing the quiet dignity of wandering souls.
A pioneering figure of the Hong Kong New Wave, Ann Hui observes ordinary human lives against shifting historical and social tides with quiet compassion. Boat People, Song of the Exile, Summer Snow, and A Simple Life demonstrate a master humanist documenting cultural identity across generations.
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Curator's Note
Ann Hui’s cinema is a luminous testament to humanist observation and cultural empathy.
Resisting commercial formulas, she consistently turns her lens toward marginalized voices—refugees, aging domestic helpers, and families navigating historical transitions. Her understated narrative style and gentle humor reveal the deep dignity inherent in everyday survival, capturing historical change through intimate domestic moments.
Her compassionate body of work holds a singular, honored place in international cinema.
Ann Hui’s masterworks find profound grace in ordinary lives: showing that patient empathy is the most enduring virtue of cinematic art.
Hong Kong New Wave and Social Observation
Gazing sharply into historical tempests and the silent grief of political refugees. · CHAPTER 01 (4 Movies)
Ann Hui's directorial debut and an important work of the Hong Kong New Wave.
A tangled murder mystery unfolds amid a complex love triangle. As conflicting witness accounts emerge, the truth about the victim and key suspects is revealed, leading investigators down a dark and twisty path where nothing is as it seems.
An early experiment combining folklore, dark humor and genre filmmaking.
A socially engaged drama about refugees, identity and displacement.
A landmark Hong Kong New Wave film exploring history and human survival.
Women, Family and Identity
Tenderly chronicling female resilience across generational estrangement and aging care. · CHAPTER 02 (4 Movies)
A deeply personal drama about family, migration and cultural identity.
Set in the early 1970s, it tells the story of a Chinese-Japanese student who returns to her native Hong Kong after graduating from a university in London. Once she arrives back home, she and her family begin to fight, largely due to cultural and societal conflicts between her mother and herself.
One of Ann Hui's defining films about women, family and everyday struggles.
A historical drama connecting personal lives with Hong Kong's social changes.
A mature drama about middle age, family and personal choices.
Ordinary Lives in Hong Kong
Finding the purest human grace inside everyday meals and quiet domestic companionship. · CHAPTER 03 (3 Movies)
A gentle portrait of ordinary Hong Kong lives and everyday dignity.
Cheung, a single mother living in an area with high crime rates, works hard to provide for her son while helping out her elderly neighbor.
A darker companion piece examining social isolation and hidden struggles.
One of Hui's most acclaimed films, exploring aging, dignity and human connection.
History and Cultural Memory
Biographies honoring literary ideals and quiet resistance amidst the smoke of war. · CHAPTER 04 (3 Movies)
A historical portrait exploring literature, history and a woman's life.
The story of writer Xiao Hong comes alive through memories of her great love affair, literary influence and escape from China during World War II.
A wartime drama about resistance, history and ordinary heroes in Hong Kong.
An adaptation exploring women's lives, desire and social constraints.