Book tickets
Hong Kong Film Festival UK 2026
Programme
Shades of Silk (Ombres de Soie) 絲之影
UK Premiere
Canada, France | 1978 | Colour | 62’ | In Cantonese, Mandarin and French with English and French subtitles
Dir.: Mary Stephen 雪美蓮
Mary Stephen’s first directorial feature portrays the entangled relationship between Lysanne (Alexandria Brouwer) and Marlène (Stephen), who’ve known each other since school in Shanghai. Tension between the two young Asian women escalates as they separate and migrate in adulthood.
Stephen shot the film in Paris at the age of 24 with a minuscule budget and a small crew. Inspired by the work of Marguerite Duras, the film is a homage as well as a counterpoint to India Song, which centres its story on the wife of the French ambassador to India. Also set in the 1930s, Shades of Silk shares the hypnotic quality of Duras’s film, with yearning brewing over the long shots, the melancholic refrains, and the discrepancy between the voice-over and the images, but this time the story comes from the other side of the colonial setting.
Labyrinthe 迷宮
UK Premiere
Canada | 1973 | B&W | 3’ | No dialogue
Dir.: Mary Stephen 雪美蓮
Made during Stephen’s student years in Montreal, Labyrinthe is an experimental short that explores dual cultural identities, cross-cutting the motions of two girls – one Asian, one Caucasian, doubles of each other except for their difference in race – moving through maze-like corridors.
A Very Easy Death 安詳辭世
UK Premiere
Canada | 1975 | Colour | 8’ | No dialogue
Dir.: Mary Stephen 雪美蓮
Borrowing its title from Simone de Beauvoir’s book, Stephen’s A Very Easy Death is a meditation on grief and remembrance following her mother's passing.
The Great Canadian Puberty Rite 大加拿大成人禮
UK Premiere
Canada | 1973 | Colour | 21’ | English, no subtitles
Dir.: Mary Stephen 雪美蓮
A travelogue of Stephen’s summer road trip across Canada at the end of her studies in Montreal, documenting an adventurous rite-of-passage.
Followed by an in-person Q&A with Mary Stephen.
Presented as a collaboration between Hong Kong Film Festival UK and the ICA.
Programme
Shades of Silk (Ombres de Soie) 絲之影
UK Premiere
Canada, France | 1978 | Colour | 62’ | In Cantonese, Mandarin and French with English and French subtitles
Dir.: Mary Stephen 雪美蓮
Mary Stephen’s first directorial feature portrays the entangled relationship between Lysanne (Alexandria Brouwer) and Marlène (Stephen), who’ve known each other since school in Shanghai. Tension between the two young Asian women escalates as they separate and migrate in adulthood.
Stephen shot the film in Paris at the age of 24 with a minuscule budget and a small crew. Inspired by the work of Marguerite Duras, the film is a homage as well as a counterpoint to India Song, which centres its story on the wife of the French ambassador to India. Also set in the 1930s, Shades of Silk shares the hypnotic quality of Duras’s film, with yearning brewing over the long shots, the melancholic refrains, and the discrepancy between the voice-over and the images, but this time the story comes from the other side of the colonial setting.
Labyrinthe 迷宮
UK Premiere
Canada | 1973 | B&W | 3’ | No dialogue
Dir.: Mary Stephen 雪美蓮
Made during Stephen’s student years in Montreal, Labyrinthe is an experimental short that explores dual cultural identities, cross-cutting the motions of two girls – one Asian, one Caucasian, doubles of each other except for their difference in race – moving through maze-like corridors.
A Very Easy Death 安詳辭世
UK Premiere
Canada | 1975 | Colour | 8’ | No dialogue
Dir.: Mary Stephen 雪美蓮
Borrowing its title from Simone de Beauvoir’s book, Stephen’s A Very Easy Death is a meditation on grief and remembrance following her mother's passing.
The Great Canadian Puberty Rite 大加拿大成人禮
UK Premiere
Canada | 1973 | Colour | 21’ | English, no subtitles
Dir.: Mary Stephen 雪美蓮
A travelogue of Stephen’s summer road trip across Canada at the end of her studies in Montreal, documenting an adventurous rite-of-passage.
Followed by an in-person Q&A with Mary Stephen.
Presented as a collaboration between Hong Kong Film Festival UK and the ICA.
Book tickets
Sat, 26 Sep 2026
Cinema 1
08:20 pm
Ticket information
- All tickets that do not require ID (full price, disabled, income support) can be printed at home or stored in email
- For aged-based concession tickets (under 25, student) please bring relevant ID to collect at the front desk before the event.
Access information
Cinema 1
- Both our Cinemas have step free access from The Mall and are accessible by ramp
- We have 1 wheelchair allocated space with a seat for a companion
- All seats are hard back, have a crushed velvet feel and they do not recline
- These are our seat size dimensions: W 42 x D 45 x H 52
- Arm rest either side of the seat dimensions: L 27 x W 7 x H 20
for the following requirements:
- We have unassigned seating. If you require a specific seat, please reserve this in advance
- Free for visitors where ticket prices are a barrier, please email
All films are ad-free and 18+ unless otherwise stated, and start with a 10 min. curated selection of trailers.
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