The Hong Kong International Film Festival today announced the return of multi-talented actor Aaron Kwok as its ambassador for the third consecutive year and unveiled a new key art to mark its 45th anniversary.
Scheduled between April 1 and 12, 2021, for 12 days, HKIFF45 will be the first hybrid edition in the festival’s history, featuring screenings and audience-engagement events simultaneously in physical and online formats.
Aaron Kwok, a Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor nominee last year for I’m Livin’ It and a past winner, is one of Asia’s premier artists. He recently won plaudits for staging a free live-streamed concert to support dancers struggling for work under the COVID-19 pandemic.
While taking part in an HKIFF45 photoshoot, Kwok reflects on what has been a challenging year for everyone and hopes that film production could soon resume.
“I am privileged to be making some contributions towards the embattled entertainment industry,” Kwok said. “Given what we have gone through last year, I am hopeful that audiences would be keen to return to the cinema, with the hybrid HKIFF45 providing the perfect platform. I am pleased to lend my support once again to promote the Hong Kong International Film Festival as its ambassador.”
Well-known fashion photographer Kaon was behind the camera for this year’s shoot. A regular collaborator, Kaon has worked with Kwok on his 2016 concert poster and many fashion editorials and magazine cover photo shoots.
HKIFF45’s key art is by the acclaimed local graphic designer Frank Chan, who has previously created key arts for films by Johnnie To, Tsui Hark, Jiang Wen, Wilson Yip and the late Benny Chan. It features two distinctive design elements: a barn swallow and a boom microphone – often associated with filmmaking – slanted at a 45-degree angle.
“Barn swallows are common in Hong Kong and migrational by nature. After spending the winter in the southern hemisphere, they would always return in March and April to breed,” explained Chan. “I hope the key art would convey an uplifting message that, like the homing birds, film lovers in Hong Kong would return to the cinema with a renewed sense of hope after a year of loss and desperation. It is very much their homecoming.”