Hong Kong director to visit Asia Film Festival

Hong Kong director to visit Auckland during
Asia Film Festival Aotearoa

Independent director, Julian Lee, will be in Auckland during the Asia Film Festival Aotearoa (AFFA). Lee’s second feature film, Night Corridor, screens as part of AFFA on Saturday 28th at Auckland’s SKYCITY Theatre.

A graduate of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Royal College of Art, London, Lee is also an experienced photographer, skilled writer and distinguished academic.

Night Corridor, a horror film with intense Gothic flair, premièred at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in April 2003. In Taiwan, the film was nominated in various categories at the recent Golden Horse Awards, equivalent to the American Oscars. Starring perennial heart-throb Daniel Wu, it has screened to critical acclaim at film festivals worldwide. The film was produced by Wu and Stanley Kwan and flirts with influences such as David Lynch’s Lost Highway and Ken Russell’s Gothic. “It is not your typical mainstream film. It is more intellectual - an auteur’s film,” describes Lee.

“We are delighted to have one of the most exciting, independent directors from Hong Kong attend our inaugural festival”, says Alex Lee, AFFA Programming Manager.

“Mr. Lee’s visit will lay a platform that allows AFFA to connect the thriving film industries in Asia with that in New Zealand. We aim to stimulate more visits from Asian film representatives to our country, which has an active film industry,” he adds.

“Doing this can only help generate more co-operative ventures and enhance the production experience between both industries. We want the world to see Auckland as an outstanding film location and vibrant film festival city.”

“We are seeing an exploding interest in the study of Asian cinema at tertiary level,” says Dr. Xuelin Zhou, Lecturer in Film, Television and Media Studies and convenor for the paper Screening Hong Kong at the University of Auckland.

The public will have an opportunity to meet Lee at an open bi-lingual Q&A session in the foyer of SKYCITY Theatre at 3pm on Sunday 29th February.

AFFA and the Film, Television and Media Studies Department, University of Auckland, co-present a free talk entitled The Hong Kong Film Industry Today on Friday 27th February. Film students and local industry representatives are encouraged to attend. Julian Lee will lead this talk from 3-4pm at the University of Auckland, Arts 1 Building, Lecture Room 215.

Ends

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