Hope Goes Wide, Two Festivals Land: East Asian Cinema This Weekend
What's On
Hope Goes Wide, Two Festivals Land: East Asian Cinema This Weekend
Friday 25 to Sunday 27 September 2026 - a nationwide Korean monster epic, a Hong Kong cinema retrospective at the Barbican, and a two-day animation festival in Cardiff
This is one of the busiest weekends for East Asian cinema in UK venues all year. A Korean genre film with an unlikely international cast goes properly wide - not a one-cinema booking, but ODEON, Everyman and Picturehouse screens across the country. At the same time, two festivals land on the same three days in two different cities: the Hong Kong Film Festival UK opens in London with a whole season built around one remarkable filmmaker, and the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival takes over Chapter in Cardiff for a solid two days of anime, live music and a masterclass.
Here's everything on, day by day.
Friday 25 September
Hope goes nationwide
Na Hong-jin, dir. - UK & Ireland wide release
HOPE is out in UK cinemas today, and this isn't a niche rep-cinema booking - it's ODEON, Everyman and Picturehouse, the full wide-release treatment. Na Hong-jin (THE WAILING, THE CHASER) directs his long-awaited return, and the cast is genuinely stacked: Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung and Squid Game breakout HoYeon lead alongside Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, as a remote Korean village is torn apart by a mysterious creature and the hunters who go after it. It already had one of South Korea's biggest openings of 2026 back home, and premiered at Cannes to widespread acclaim.
HOPE, directed by Na Hong-jin
Own it at home
HOPE is also now up for preorder on Blu-ray, presented in its complete 156-minute cut - loved it in cinemas? It's on the Terracotta store now.
The same evening, the Hong Kong Film Festival UK opens at the Barbican with PALIMPSEST: THE STORY OF A NAME - an archival deep-dive into director Mary Stephen's own family history. Stephen is a Hong Kong-born, Paris-based filmmaker and editor best known for her two-decade collaboration with Éric Rohmer, and she'll be there in person for the Q&A. It's the opening night of a whole season spotlighting her career, both as a director and as one of European art cinema's most important editors.
And earlier in the day, the Prince Charles Cinema has Jackie Chan's RUMBLE IN THE BRONX on 35mm at 12:15pm - peak-era Jackie, doing his own stunts in a New York that was very obviously filmed in Vancouver.
RUMBLE IN THE BRONX, directed by Stanley Tong
Saturday 26 September
Cardiff and London, both in full swing
Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival (Chapter, Cardiff) - Hong Kong Film Festival UK (ICA + Rio Cinema) - Japanese Film Club (multi-venue)
If you're near Cardiff, the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival takes over Chapter for a proper full day of it. 11am: CHILDREN OF THE SEA, Studio 4°C's stunning adaptation with a Joe Hisaishi score. 1:25pm: a masterclass from CGI artist Masaya Inaba on how anime actually gets made. 3:30pm: ALL YOU NEED IS KILL. 6:30pm: a live performance from metal-shamisen musician Jero11, paired with Kihachiro Kawamoto's 1976 short DOJOJI. And it closes at 8:15pm with AKIRA on the big screen. A BSL interpreter is on hand throughout - today only.
CHILDREN OF THE SEA, directed by Ayumu Watanabe - opens Kotatsu Festival's Saturday programme
Meanwhile in London, the Hong Kong Film Festival UK continues its Mary Stephen spotlight at the ICA - THE AVIATOR'S WIFE at 6pm and the UK premiere of her own directorial debut, SHADES OF SILK, at 8:20pm - plus DEADLINE's UK premiere at Rio Cinema, 5pm.
And it's not just London and Cardiff. Japanese Film Club has SHALL WE DANCE at Regent Street Cinema (7pm) and LINDA LINDA LINDA playing both Chiswick Cinema (6pm) and Showroom Sheffield (8:15pm) - a genuinely UK-wide night for East Asian cinema fans.
LINDA LINDA LINDA, directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita - Chiswick Cinema and Showroom Sheffield, Saturday
Sunday 27 September
Closing out a huge week
Kotatsu Festival's final day - Hong Kong Film Festival UK continues - Akira's last Prince Charles Cinema showing this run
In Cardiff, Kotatsu Festival closes out with LUPIN III: THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO at 11:30am and LUPIN THE IIIRD: THE IMMORTAL BLOODLINE at 3:30pm - a fitting way to wrap two days built around the best of Japanese animation, past and present.
LUPIN III: THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO, directed by Hayao Miyazaki - closes Kotatsu Festival, Sunday morning
In London, Hong Kong Film Festival UK has the UK premiere of A FOGGY TALE at Genesis Cinema (2pm) and A SUMMER'S TALE at the ICA (7:30pm) - the latter another entry in the Mary Stephen retrospective, this one a Rohmer film she edited rather than directed.
A SUMMER'S TALE, directed by Éric Rohmer, edited by Mary Stephen - ICA, Sunday evening
And back at the Prince Charles Cinema, it's the last chance this run to catch AKIRA on 35mm, 8:35pm - Katsuhiro Otomo's landmark cyberpunk classic, closing out a week that's genuinely covered the whole range of what East Asian cinema can do.
AKIRA, directed by Katsuhiro Otomo - Prince Charles Cinema, Sunday, last showing this run
Wherever you are in the UK this weekend, there's a genuine reason to get to a cinema - a wide release, a festival, or both. Support the venues and organisers keeping East Asian film on the big screen.
Loved Hope in cinemas? Own it on Blu-ray.
HOPE is now up for preorder in its complete 156-minute cut, presented on Blu-ray by Neon. Terracotta Distribution is a specialist UK retailer for East Asian cinema on physical media - with knowledgeable curation, direct customer service, and carefully chosen stock you won't find on the high street.
Preorder Hope on Blu-ray →