27

A coming-of-age short depicts the main character, Yumi and her record store coworker, as they experience existential dread about turning 27 years old, the age that many Western rock stars passed. Between daydreaming and questioning their lives’ direction, the two supervise the record store and its quirky cast of customers and get up to their own shenanigans in the process.

Directed by Erica Kwok
Produced by Kikicaca

Director’s Bio: Erica Kwok is a Berlin-based independent filmmaker from Hong Kong. Her works revolve primarily around themes of women, growth, existential crises and the desire for freedom. She conducts experiments in narrative visuals using various forms, including stop-motion animation, dance, and documentary filmmaking. She believes in the liberating power of imagination. She graduated from the School of Creative Media in City University of Hong Kong in 2019, majoring in New Media Arts. After graduating, she gained support from Goethe Institut Hong Kong, Hong Kong Arts Development Council & Hong Kong Literary Criticism Society to continue to produce her independent short films. The films have been selected at Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival, Far East Film Festival, Vancouver Asian Film Festival, Filmfest Bremen, Jecheon International Music & Film Festival etc.

Plays in

Coming of Age at the End of the World

Is the end of the world literal or figurative? Each of these films depicts a moment in time when a character begins to understand the meaning of life – just when everything is coming to an end. So much life is lived in this program: coming to terms with a loss of autonomy, burning along with Hong Kong’s “cursed generation” in an over-surveilled record store, and existing in total isolation while the seasons change outside the window. Yes, the world these characters know is ending, but as with all endings, there is newness and change. These young people are gaining insight into how the old world works – just in time to build a different one.