Hero in 35mm

Filmmaker Ang Lee and actor Zhang Ziyi in conversation with Academy President Janet Yang.

While trying to stay focused on her upcoming college entrance exams, Nian (Zhou Dongyu) deals with extreme physical and emotional bullying from her classmates. Small-time criminal Bei (played by Mandopop singer Jackson Yee, in his first leading role) becomes Nian’s protector after she attempts to help him during an encounter with a group of street thugs. As the teens from opposite worlds spend more time together, romantic feelings blossom. Derek Tsang’s intense drama picked up numerous awards and nominations in Hong Kong and became the third film Hong Kong submitted to be nominated in the International Feature Film category at the Oscars.

Marking their tenth film collaboration, Andy Lau and Deannie Ip star in director Ann Hui’s heartwarming drama inspired by the personal experience of producer Roger Lee. Lau plays Roger, an unmarried filmmaker who takes on the role of caregiver after his longtime live-in maid Ah Tao, played by Ip, has a stroke. With Hui’s naturalistic directing and touches of humor, along with Lau and Ip’s nuanced performances, the film won all the top awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards and became Hong Kong’s official submission for the International Feature Film category at the Oscars.