Taking its title from a 1997 film by indie director Fruit Chan, this season of Asia and the Pacific Screens presents a selection of films showcasing Hong Kong’s New Wave cinema and its legacies. In the late 1970s, a new generation of filmmakers came to be dubbed Hong Kong’s ‘New Wave’. More eclectic than their French namesakes, the New Wave directors were nevertheless consistent in their push to experiment with technique and subject, developing new forms and renovating established ones. Many early New Wave filmmakers grew up amid the prosperity and tension of colonial Hong Kong, having the chance to travel or study overseas, and were influenced by international youth culture of the 1960s. The 1970s saw the emergence of Cantonese-only TV channels leading to an increased demand for new, locally relevant content. A particular feature of Hong Kong’s new wave, then, is that many filmmakers started out directing for television. Among the experimental works were many genre-defying combinations, mixing martial arts and horror with comedy and romance, for example. However, many films also dealt with economic and political uncertainty as well as pressing local issues—such as official corruption, or the plight of Chinese-Vietnamese refugees. The films in this season reflect on Hong Kong’s youth culture in the 1980–90s, the territory’s shifting sense of identity, and its changing relationship with Mainland China, both politically and culturally. From the dramatic realism of Ann Hui to the suave action of John Woo, the sensitivity of Stanley Kwan and Wong Kar-wai, through to the unapologetic independence of Fruit Chan—many Hong Kong filmmakers remain among the most individual and influential figures in Chinese cinema.