Monday, August 13---------Even though Hong Kong has officially been absorbed into the People's Republic of China, it remains its own political and cultural animal. This is certainly reflected in its national cinema, which has been a major international sensation for decades. To mark the 10th anniversary of the end of colonial rule, the BAMcinématek, the repertory film program at BAM Rose Cinemas, is presenting THE NEW DECADE: HONG KONG FILM, starting this Thursday, August 16th.

This nine–film series spotlights directors at the vanguard of New Hong Kong cinema as they take the pulse of Hong Kong society ten years after its return to Chinese sovereignty. Covering a mix of genres and styles, from the triad pictures of Johnnie To and the action comedy HOUSE OF FURY to the romantic drama 2 BECOME 1, the mini-festival presents a wildly diverse survey of some of the most exciting filmmakers working today, worthy successors to such recognized Hong Kong film auteurs as John Woo, Tsui Hark, and Wong Kar–Wai.

2 BECOME 1The series kicks off on August 16 with 2 BECOME 1 (2006), directed by Law Wing–Cheong, a film that combines serious drama with romantic comedy while telling the story of a woman who discovers she has breast cancer. Law adroitly juggles the deadly serious with the comical.. The following day, the series will present AFTER THIS OUR EXILE (2006), the award-winning film from Patrick Tam. In this sensitive tale of a father’s and son’s relationship after the boy’s mother leaves her abusive partner, Tam returns to directing for the first time since 1989’s MY HEART IS THAT ETERNAL ROSE.  Other highlights of the series include the screenings of PERHAPS LOVE (2005), a visually extravagant, self–reflexive musical by Peter Chan, which focuses on a love triangle involving the director of a movie musical and his two stars; BREAKING NEWS (2004), an action-packed thriller by Johnnie To, one of the great action directors working in film; HOUSE OF FURY (2005), a martial arts comedy about a dysfunctional family, directed by Stephen Fung; and CRAZY N' THE CITY (2005), a cop story that starts as a comedy, but shifts gears in the second half, directed by James Yuen and Lanbo Cheuk.  ELECTION

The series is presenting a sneak preview of EXILED (2007), the latest film from action auteur Johnnie To. The visually arresting film is set in a stylized Macau before the Portuguese colony was returned to Chinese rule in 1998. The series concludes on August 26 with a double feature of Johnnie To gangster films, ELECTION (2005) and ELECTION TRIAD (2006), both revolving around power dynamics in the Wo Sing Triad Society and featuring many of the same characters. ELECTION chronicles the bids for power that take place between rivals in an internal election for a new Chairman. In ELECTION TRIAD, a young, well–educated gangster tries to move into legitimate business at the same time as the battle for gangland supremacy starts to heat up again. The To films reference Francis Ford Coppola's GODFATHER trilogy in their pitch perfect style and cinematic craftsmanship.

For information on the films in the series and their screening schedule, log on to the official website of the Brooklyn Academy of Music: www.bam.org

Sandy Mandelberger, Film New York Editor