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34th HKIFF presents world's most important classics

The 34th HKIFF is proud to present some of the world's most important restored classics: Metropolis, The Red Shoes and Confucius.

Audiences at this year's HKIFF will be the first in Asia to see Fritz Lang's science fiction masterpiece Metropolis in its original form. The silent film premiere will mark one of the most important discoveries in cinematic history of all times - 83 years after the original version had its world premiere in Berlin. Due to the sensational discovery of a 16-mm negative in Buenos Aires in 2008 and its current restoration, Metropolis can now be seen in its - more than 30 minutes longer – original version. For the first time, the original score by Lang's close collaborator, Gottfried Huppertz, will be performed live by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta under the direction of world famous conductor, Frank Strobel.

“The movie that plays in my heart," Martin Scorsese

Often cited as one of the greatest British films ever made, The Red Shoes will be screened at the 34th HKIFF after 35 years of restoration overseen by Martin Scorsese. The Red Shoes inspired many film-makers including Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg. In Coppola's latest work Tetro, also screened at the 34th HKIFF, a character proclaims that The Red Shoes is a film you have to see before you die. Directed by Michael Powell, the 1948 film, The Red Shoes, is visually one of the most innovative and beautiful works of cinema ever created.

The film project Confucius was first conceived in Hong Kong by the director, Mei Fu, back in 1938 with the production being completed just 2 years later. More than half a century passed before the film was rediscovered in Hong Kong. Further to last year's screening of Confucius, the 34th HKIFF is providing audiences with the unique opportunity to experience the now fully restored version further to the Film Archive's meticulous restoration of the film; the cut-out segments have been carefully inserted back into their rightful places.