2018 Summer International Film Festival lineup revealed

If the summer blockbuster season has got you down, Cine Fan’s Summer International Film Festival is riding to the rescue. Beginning on August 18, the fest opens with Mirai (pictured), the Hong Kong premiere of the new film by director Mamoru Hosoda – who will be in attendance – the man responsible for the likes of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and The Boy and the Beast. Buttressing the other end of the festival is Italian drama Happy as Lazzaro, a magical-realist fable about tobacco magnate and a village of sharecroppers by Alice Rohrwacher.

Other highlights to look forward to include award-winning local director Jevon Au’s new school drama, Distinction, about the pressures of school life in Hong Kong; The Prayer, for which Anthony Bajon won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at this year’s Berlin Film Festival; The Bastard and the Beautiful World by innovative Japanese auteur Sono Sion, starring Asano Tadanobu and members of SMAP; and a retrospective dedicated to Audrey Hepburn that’s showcasing some of her most famous films including Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and My Fair Lady.

Tickets have just gone on sale over at Urbtix, and a full programme is available here.