Hong Kong Skyline - H 2013
Gavin Hellier/Jai/CorbisHONG KONG — The Hong Kong International Film Festival will celebrate the city’s Independent Commission Against Corruption’s 40th anniversary this year by showing the world premiere of ICAC Investigators 2014 — Better Tomorrow, a TV movie produced by the anti-corruption organization about a recent university graduate’s passion for investigative work.
Unique among anti-corruption bodies around the world, Hong Kong’s ICAC has been making television movies since the 1970s as a public relations and recruitment exercise. Some of the territory’s top directors have taken part, including Ann Hui (A Simple Life) and Dante Lam (Unbeatable).
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The Hong Kong fest will screen Better Tomorrow on March 26, along with a selection of ICAC’s television drama series over the past 40 years.
ICAC Investigators 2014 — Better Tomorrow is directed by Adam Wong (The Way We Dance), with Lam as consultant director. Starring Liu Kai-chi (Beast Stalker), Venus Wong (The Midas Touch) and Jo Koo (Love in the Buff), it tells the story of recent university graduate Siu-Lam’s passion for investigation work at the ICAC.
“Through topics that the public is familiar with, I hope to provide a convenient way for the audience to identify with the story and think about it. The dilemma faced by Siu-Lam resembles what Hong Kong people face nowadays,” said Tommy Leung, producer of the film, in a statement.
The festival will also showcase selections from classic ICAC television drama series. Titled “The Quiet Revolution, 40 Years of ICAC Drama Series,” it will include Investigation (1978) by Hui, Calculated Death (2009) by director Herman Yau (Ip Man: The Final Fight), and Rigging the Market (2009) and A Blind Eye (2011), both directed by Lam.
“ICAC’s TV drama series have always maintained a high standard of production,” said HKIFF Society artistic director Li Cheuk To. “This year, the HKIFF is pleased to collaborate with the ICAC on a retrospective of its TV film work over the past 40 years and present some of the best of these classic dramas for free public screening. We are also honored to hold the world premiere of ICAC Investigators 2014 — Better Tomorrow.”
The collaboration between HKIFF and ICAC will also include an exhibition and a seminar on April 6, with Ann Hui, Cheng Yu and Keith Chan as speakers.
