Japanese film director Yoji Yamada (Photo: sina.com.cn)

The annual Hong Kong International Film Festival has announced the opening and closing films for this year's event. They include the new Golden Bear contender, Yoji Yamada's Kabei - Our Mother.

Kabei, a story of a Japanese family set in the 1940s, and Taiwan director Chang Tso-Chi's Soul of a Demon will together open the 32nd Hong Kong International Film Festival on March 17, according to the festival Web site.

The festival will wrap up on April 6 with a screening of Martin Scorsese's Shine a Light, a documentary about the legendary rock band The Rolling Stones, and Coffee or Tea, a movie about a love triangle co-directed by Hong Kong directors Shu Kei and Kwan Man-Hin.

An Asian Film Awards gala is scheduled for the festival's opening day, where Kabei director Yoji Yamada will be honored with a lifetime achievement award.

The HKIFF is one of Asia's most important film events.

(CRIENGLISH.com February 21, 2008)