At the height of the pandemic in 2020, a trio of films by local distributor Golden Scene emerged as viral box office hits, and Beyond the Dream was the most popular among them. Directed by Kiwi Chow, Beyond the Dream is perhaps an uncharacteristically romantic film by the politically polemical director. Telling a bittersweet love story between young Lok and Yan, the film takes place in the working class area of Tuen Mun, an unusual setting for Hong Kong cinema. Yet with thoughtful cinematography by Szeto Yat-lui, Chow crafts a city poem of connections out of this overlooked neighborhood, and single-handedly transformed a few of the film’s locations into local tourism hotspots. The film also marks the star-is-born moment of real-life celebrity couple Terrance Lau and Cecilia Choi. Beyond the Dream proves that Hong Kong cinema can still birth new, young idols, and that there is an appealing path beyond the city’s usual genre flicks and social realist dramas. Because of Chow’s politically explicit films, the otherwise innocuous Beyond the Dream has not escaped the fate of being retrospectively banned, a testament to the challenges of making Hong Kong cinema right now.

在2020年疫情高峰時，三部由高先發行的電影成功跑出，被網民貴為「高先三寶」。當中最火紅的莫過於周冠威導演的《幻愛》。周冠威以政治作品聞名，《幻愛》卻出奇地是一部浪漫愛情片，講述了年輕人李志樂與葉嵐相戀的故事。《幻愛》於平平無奇的屯門取景，但攝影師司徒一雷精緻的鏡頭卻成功譜出了屯門的詩意與城市美學，幾個取景場地更搖身一變成了熱門打卡點。《幻愛》亦見證了戲外情侶劉俊謙與蔡思韵成為新星，證明了香港電影仍然可以出產年輕偶像，以及在典型類型片和寫實劇情片外還有出路。周冠威的政治作品使純樸的《幻愛》都難逃被禁的命運，印證了現今香港電影市場的困難與制肘。

Director’s bio
Kiwi Chow graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) and holds a Master’s Degree in filmmaking. He has been a guest lecturer in HKAPA since 2005, and at the same time he has written and directed several short films, including the award-winning 16mm short film “Upstairs” (2006), as well as “My Grandma’s Room” (2004), “The Good Thing” (2009), “Sensitive” (2010) and “My White Balloon” (2011). In 2013, he wrote and directed his first feature film A Complicated Story, which had its world premiere at the 37th Hong Kong International Film Festival, and received the Award for Young Artist by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. In 2015, he co-directed the internationally acclaimed and controversial anthology film Ten Years, in which he helmed the “Self-Immolator” segment. The film was crowned Best Film at the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards.

導演簡介
周冠威：香港演藝學院電影製作碩士，2005年開始於香港演藝學院擔任客席講師，同時亦參與製作短片，以16毫米短片《樓上傳來的歌聲》（2006）獲得多個本土及國際影展獎項，備受注目。其後身兼編劇和導演的短片作品有《吉兒》（2009）、《敏感》（2010）及《白色小孩》（2011）等。2013年首部劇情長片《一個複雜故事》，入圍第37屆香港國際電影節，並榮獲藝術發展局的藝術新秀獎。2015年聯合導演《十年》（執導《自焚者》），在世界各地引起極大迴響，更榮獲第35屆香港電影金像獎最佳電影。