HONG KONG – M+, Asia’s global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District (WestK) in Hong Kong, is pleased to present the world premiere of the first title of the M+ Restored, The System (1979) by pioneering Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Yung. This groundbreaking film will be showcased as part of the special programmes of the 49th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), co-presented by M+ and HKIFF. The System has been invited to screen as part of the Restored Classics section of the 27th Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy in late April.

The System is the debut feature of independent filmmaker Peter Yung (born 1949). The film earned widespread acclaim for intricately portraying the relationship between drug dealers, the police, and informants. Its solid and detailed depiction of investigations and drug trafficking, combined with documentary innovations such as handheld cinematography. It captures a wealth of on location scenes without resorting to convenient dramatization, allowing the film to stand out among the many works of Hong Kong’s first wave of New Wave cinema. Its distinctive and cohesive style also sets it apart from Yung’s later works.

The System underwent a meticulous 4K restoration in 2025, undertaken by M+ at the film restoration laboratory L’Immagine Ritrovata, with colour correction completed at One Cool Production. The restoration utilised the original 35mm picture and sound negatives preserved at the Hong Kong Film Archive.

The film’s 4K restoration will premiere at the M+ Cinema on Sunday, 13 April 2025 and Saturday, 19 April 2025. Each screening will be followed by a post-screening talk with Peter Yung in Cantonese about the conditions of filmmaking at the time and the importance of film restoration projects in Hong Kong. The film lead actor Pai Ying and lead actress Chiao Chiao will participate in the post-screening talk on Sunday, 13 April 2025.

Supported by CHANEL, M+ Restored is a new initiative which aims to increase visibility of Hong Kong’s rich cinematic heritage by presenting and leading the restoration of nine feature-length films. Launched as part of a three-year partnership between M+ and CHANEL in July 2023, this project highlights the creative experimentation and technical innovation of the Hong Kong New Wave cinema, which emerged in 1979 and is known for its stylistic and thematic innovations. The movement is defined by influential figures, such as Allen Fong, Ann Hui, Patrick Tam, Yim Ho and Peter Yung, drawing inspiration from European art cinema, Hollywood, and American independent films.

An essential part of Asia’s visual culture, M+ establishes inspiring conversations between these moving image practices and other art forms, their makers and the public. Gleaning from archival research, filmmaker interviews and analysis of extant film and video materials, M+ Restored offers a new opportunity to reevaluate the impact of the Hong Kong New Wave on the development of the local art and film scenes and its lasting legacy. The two other films in the programme, including The Arch (1968) and Love Massacre (1981), will be presented in M+ Cinema Autumn Edition 2025.

More information available on their website