Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival Spotlights Rising Talent in 2026 Awards

This week marked the 12th edition of the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival. The Official Selection featured 33 outstanding independent films, carefully chosen from submissions received from around the world. The festival's Streaming Selection remains available until 8 August. More information can be found on the festival's website.

Kris De Meester, curator of the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival, reflected on this year's edition:

"The Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival continues to be a place where bold voices and original perspectives can find an audience. Seeing filmmakers from across the world come together through cinema is what makes this festival so special. We're incredibly thankful for everyone's support and are already excited to start preparing the next edition."

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival, selected by the festival's jury panel:

Best Narrative Short Film
A Winter Mirage (United Kingdom) – Guoju Wang

Best Documentary Short Film
Hooked (United Kingdom) – Glen Fulthorpe

Best Narrative Feature Film
The Run Towards (Belarus) – Pavel Ausiyevich

Best Documentary Feature Film
Our Havens (France) – Emmanuelle Legendre

Best Animated Film
To the Woods (France) – Agnès Patron

Best Experimental Film
The Journey (United Kingdom) – Mel Steele

Best Underground Film
Trump Pinochet (United States) – Gerald Habarth

Best Super Short Film
Super V (France) – Franck Janin

Best Hong Kong Film
When The Wind Blows (Hong Kong, United Kingdom) – Gigi Yang

Audience Choice Award

Performance No.19190301 - Mingu Kang

Congratulations to all of this year's award winners and Official Selection filmmakers. The festival would also like to extend its sincere thanks to The Bigger Screen for its continued support, and to everyone who joined us in celebrating independent cinema. We look forward to welcoming filmmakers and audiences back for the 13th edition of the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival next year.