26 – 27 September 2026
Hong Kong Film Festival UK 2026
Mary Stephen is a Hong Kong-born, Paris-based filmmaker and editor, best known for her over two-decades-long collaboration with Éric Rohmer, and later with various other directors including Ann Hui. This year’s HKFFUK spotlights Stephen’s career as a director as much as an editor, opening the festival with her latest film, Palimpsest: The Story of a Name, an archival quest into her family history.
When Stephen was 15, her family migrated to Montreal, Canada, where she began making experimental shorts including Labyrinthe, The Great Canadian Puberty Rite, and A Very Easy Death. She soon moved to Paris in the mid-1970s and directed her impressive debut feature, Shades of Silk, the UK premiere of which we are honoured to present in a pristine 2K restoration alongside her early shorts. Two years later Stephen made her second full-length film, Justocoeur, which has unfortunately been lost. The programme also traces her path as an editor and occasional co-composer, screening two films she made with Rohmer: The Aviator’s Wife, where she began working as assistant editor and appeared in a cameo, and A Summer’s Tale, one of many Rohmer titles she edited through to his final film.
We are delighted to welcome Stephen in person for the Q&As at this special celebration of her work.
Presented as a collaboration between Hong Kong Film Festival UK and the ICA.
Hong Kong Film Festival UK 2026
Mary Stephen is a Hong Kong-born, Paris-based filmmaker and editor, best known for her over two-decades-long collaboration with Éric Rohmer, and later with various other directors including Ann Hui. This year’s HKFFUK spotlights Stephen’s career as a director as much as an editor, opening the festival with her latest film, Palimpsest: The Story of a Name, an archival quest into her family history.
When Stephen was 15, her family migrated to Montreal, Canada, where she began making experimental shorts including Labyrinthe, The Great Canadian Puberty Rite, and A Very Easy Death. She soon moved to Paris in the mid-1970s and directed her impressive debut feature, Shades of Silk, the UK premiere of which we are honoured to present in a pristine 2K restoration alongside her early shorts. Two years later Stephen made her second full-length film, Justocoeur, which has unfortunately been lost. The programme also traces her path as an editor and occasional co-composer, screening two films she made with Rohmer: The Aviator’s Wife, where she began working as assistant editor and appeared in a cameo, and A Summer’s Tale, one of many Rohmer titles she edited through to his final film.
We are delighted to welcome Stephen in person for the Q&As at this special celebration of her work.
Presented as a collaboration between Hong Kong Film Festival UK and the ICA.
Programme
Saturday 26 September, 6.00pm
The Aviator's Wife + Q&A
Mary Stephen first met Éric Rohmer as a student on his course. They began their creative collaboration on The Aviator's Wife, with Stephen working as assistant editor to Cécile Decugis, who also edited several landmark films from the French New Wave, including Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless. Stephen also made a brief appearance in the film.
Saturday 26 September, 8.20pm
UK Premiere
Shades of Silk & Shorts + Q&A
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.
Sunday 27 September, 7.30pm
A Summer's Tale + Q&A
A Tale of Summer is the third installment of Éric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons series and, according to the filmmaker himself, the most autobiographical of his work. Mary Stephen not only collaborated with Rohmer on the film as an editor, but also worked with him on the music under the pseudonym ‘Sébastien Erms’, creating the melodious sea shanty the protagonist wrote in the film.
Saturday 26 September, 6.00pm
The Aviator's Wife + Q&A
Mary Stephen first met Éric Rohmer as a student on his course. They began their creative collaboration on The Aviator's Wife, with Stephen working as assistant editor to Cécile Decugis, who also edited several landmark films from the French New Wave, including Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless. Stephen also made a brief appearance in the film.
Saturday 26 September, 8.20pm
UK Premiere
Shades of Silk & Shorts + Q&A
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.
Sunday 27 September, 7.30pm
A Summer's Tale + Q&A
A Tale of Summer is the third installment of Éric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons series and, according to the filmmaker himself, the most autobiographical of his work. Mary Stephen not only collaborated with Rohmer on the film as an editor, but also worked with him on the music under the pseudonym ‘Sébastien Erms’, creating the melodious sea shanty the protagonist wrote in the film.
