Ten Days of Hong Kong Cinema, and Prince Charles Cinema's Biggest Week Yet
What's On
Ten Days of Hong Kong Cinema, and Prince Charles Cinema's Biggest Week Yet
Monday 28 September to Sunday 4 October 2026 - a festival that doesn't let up, a 35mm triple bill, and one of anime's most purely cinematic films
Hong Kong Film Festival UK isn't a one-weekend affair. Now in its fourth edition, it runs a full ten days - 25 September to 4 October - across 11 venues in London, with 40 titles and 17 UK premieres. This week is the back half of that run, and it doesn't slow down: London Film Festival is still a week away, but between HKFF UK and Prince Charles Cinema's own packed calendar, this is already one of the busiest weeks of the autumn.
Here's everything on, day by day.
Monday 28 - Tuesday 29 September
The festival's quieter days
Hong Kong Film Festival UK - Classics Revisited & Experimental strands
Monday brings a 2K restoration of MY NAME AIN'T SUZIE, getting its UK premiere at Rio Cinema in Dalston as part of the festival's Classics Revisited strand. Tuesday moves into the festival's Experimental & Expanded programme with CITY LIKE WATER at Close-Up Cinema, followed by a reading and discussion. Both are the kind of festival booking you won't find outside a festival - one-off UK premieres of restorations and experimental work that don't get a conventional distribution run.
Wednesday 30 September
The week's biggest day
Prince Charles Cinema (35mm triple bill) - Hong Kong Film Festival UK at the ICA
Prince Charles Cinema goes all in on Wednesday, running three films back to back, all on 35mm: GODZILLA, Ishiro Honda's 1954 original, at midday; Wong Kar-wai's IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE straight after, at quarter past twelve; and AKIRA at quarter to three. Three completely different eras and genres of East Asian cinema, on film, in one afternoon.
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, directed by Wong Kar-wai - Prince Charles Cinema, Wednesday, 35mm
That same evening, Hong Kong Film Festival UK is at the ICA for the UK premiere of I HEARD THAT THEY ARE NOT GOING TO SEE EACH OTHER ANYMORE, part of the Experimental & Expanded strand - plus a free Visual Talk on Southeast Asian cinema at Birkbeck Cinema earlier that evening.
GODZILLA, directed by Ishiro Honda - Prince Charles Cinema, Wednesday, 35mm
If this has whetted your appetite
HKFF UK's whole programme leans into the range of Hong Kong's cinematic history - fantasy, arthouse, experimental. Our own A CHINESE GHOST STORY TRILOGY preorder is a good place to explore more of it at home.
Thursday 1 - Sunday 4 October
Millennium Actress, and the festival's close
Prince Charles Cinema - Hong Kong Film Festival UK, final weekend
Thursday, Prince Charles Cinema plays MILLENNIUM ACTRESS on 4K - Satoshi Kon's dazzling blend of biography and fantasy, and arguably the most purely cinematic anime ever made. A documentary crew's interview with a reclusive actress dissolves into her own films, memories and myths, with barely a seam between them.
MILLENNIUM ACTRESS, directed by Satoshi Kon - Prince Charles Cinema, Thursday, 4K
Saturday is HKFF UK's biggest remaining day: I AM FINE, THANK YOU with a panel discussion alongside Amnesty International UK at the ICA; the UK premiere of THE SNOWBALL ON A SUNNY DAY at Ritzy Picturehouse; and REMANENCE: THE (UN)ERASABLE, a moving-image work paired with a lecture performance, closing the night at the ICA.
And on Sunday, the whole festival closes with a 2K restoration of MY HEART IS THAT ETERNAL ROSE (1989) at Theatreship - Patrick Tam's romantic action classic, shot by Christopher Doyle and starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Joey Wong. It's already sold out, which says a lot about how this edition has landed.
MY HEART IS THAT ETERNAL ROSE, directed by Patrick Tam - Theatreship, Sunday, festival closer (sold out)
Ten days, 40 titles, 11 venues, and a Prince Charles Cinema calendar that could carry a normal week on its own. Wherever you are in London this week, there's a real reason to get to a cinema.
Can't make it to the festival? Bring the cinema home.
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