23 June 2021 - The 12th edition of the Hong Kong Arthouse Festival took place in wonderful company at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. We'd like to thank all of our guests for coming out and enjoying a face-masked evening of independent cinema gems.

This year's program included 17 wonderful short films hailing from the U.K, Canada, the U.S, Germany, France, Hungary, Switzerland, Lebanon, China, Macao, and Hong Kong. We are happy to share with you today the 2021 Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival award winners.

The award for Best Narrative Film went to Ala Kachuu - Take and Run (Switzerland) by Maria Brendle. “Human's "traditional culture" is not always a good thing”, notes one jury member. Brendle's film was a clear favorite of the night, with the jury praising everything from the writing, to the editing, to the film's lead actress performance. “Absolutely stunning and phenomenal. Truly painful and depressing.”

Spontaneous (United States) by Lori Felker was given the prize for Best Documentary Film. “An honest confession of how a woman feels about miscarriage and being a woman,” wrote one jury member. The narration and visuals in particular were very much enjoyed.
 

Best Animated Film was awarded Helfer (Hungary) by Anna Szöllősi. The jury team loved this “great minimalist animation.” The film's symbolism, use of special effects and music stood out especially.

Lumen (Canada) by Sarah Seené received the award for Best Experimental Film. “The distortion created by the super 8 film represented the film's idea really well,” adds one of this year's jury members.

Best Underground Film went to A Void Without A Face (Macao) by Lao Keng U. The jury notes: “A very well made film, with a David Lynchesque quality to it. Amazing experience.”

And finally, Best Hong Kong Film was given to Sisyphus Dreaming (Hong Kong) by Jas Pun. The jury found it to be a “very interesting film, funny and surreal.”

Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival would like to say a warm thank you to this year's team of jury members: Sunny Yip, Johnny Lau, Frances James, Mohamed Rizwan, Wing Yee Ng, Max Hattler, Anthony Sung, Hillian Siu, and Ian Lyons.

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