Hong Kong International Film Festival Society

Touring the international film festival circuit since its world premiere at the 36^th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), micro-movie omnibus Beautiful 2012 will have its humorous segment You Are More Than Beautiful screen at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Produced by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS) in its inaugural collaboration with China’s reputed Internet TV company Youku, Beautiful 2012 is composed of four commissioned shorts directed by world-class masters, namely My Way by Hong Kong’s Ann HUI, Long Tou by China’s GU Changwei, Walker by Taiwan’s TSAI Ming-Liang, and You Are More Than Beautiful by South Korea’s KIM Tae-yong, starring Francis NG, YAN Lianke, LEE Kang-Sheng and GONG Hyo-jin respectively.

“It's just great to meet the film loving people at Sundance Film Festival. I wish they find something beautiful in this funny short story,” said Kim.

An unprecedented joint effort between Youku and the HKIFFS to produce films for online, theatrical and festival screenings, Beautiful 2012 and some of its segments have been featured at over 20 festivals, including Busan, Taipei, Shanghai, Toronto and Vancouver, while getting over 16 million views in total on Youku, ranking first in the site’s movie section. Walker, in particular, was selected as a closing night film for Cannes Critics’ Week, and attracted more than 10,000 online comments in one day after streaming on Youku.

“The overwhelming response to Beautiful 2012 online and offline is indeed very encouraging," said Roger GARCIA, Executive Director of the HKIFFS. "We look forward to building on the success of exploring these new platforms to promote acclaimed filmmakers and their remarkable works to a wider audience.”

The HKIFF has also confirmed that its collaboration with Youku would continue for 2013; the director line-up for Beautiful 2013 will be announced in late February, together with the full programme of the festival.