Hong Kong films well received at 51st Seattle International Film Festival

Three contemporary films from Hong Kong were well received at the 51st Seattle International Film Festival. The festival, which traditionally attracts nearly 150,000 attendees to celebrate films from around the world, was held in person on May 15–25 followed by streaming on May 26 – June 1.

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco hosted a reception in Seattle on May 22 welcoming local and visiting filmmakers as well as Hong Kong movie lovers to celebrate the three Hong Kong productions showcased at the festival.

The three movies featured are all directed by emerging young Hong Kong talents.

“Luz”, directed by Flora Lau, tells two stories of lonely parents and adult children in Chongqing, Hong Kong and France. The film had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival under the World Cinema Dramatic Competition category, which selects narrative feature films with fresh perspectives and inventive styles from emerging talent around the world.

“Little Red Sweet”, directed by Vincent Chow, is a nostalgic drama about a family’s struggles to keep its traditional dessert shop open in the face of illness, generational desires, and gentrification. The film is supported by the Hong Kong Film Development Fund’s (FFD) Film Production Financing Scheme (Relaxation Plan). The scheme was launched to support local productions with a view to promoting the long-term development of the Hong Kong film industry.

“Fly Me to the Moon”, directed by Sasha Chuk, is the director’s autobiographical coming-of-age drama about her struggles adapting to a new life when she and her mother emigrated from Mainland China to Hong Kong in the 1990s. The film is a winning project of the FFD’s First Feature Film Initiative, which identifies new talent through a competition on screenplay and production proposals. The film received a total of four nominations, namely Best Supporting Actor, Best New Performer, Best Costume & Makeup Design and Best New Director at the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards and Yoyo Tse won the Best New Performer Award.