The film

Tiger partakes in MMA fights to pay off his debts. One night after winning his match, he finds Cuckoo, a young woman running from a toxic relationship, in his car. She too is in serious financial trouble. This chance meeting soon turns into a friendship based on mutual assistance, with each person encouraging the other to make their dreams come true. He wants to open a restaurant; she wants to become a singer. But what price are they willing to pay to get where they want to be?

With the help of his faithful collaborator Wai Ka-fai, master Johnnie To delivers a pop melodramedy that is both surprising and enthralling. A perfect example of the tendency of Hong Kong cinema to go overboard and exude electrifying energy, CHASING DREAM is the illegitimate child of ROCKY and CHINA’S GOT TALENT. Prepare for hard-hitting boxing matches and soaring musical lyricism! The film, just like his over-the-top yet touching heroes, is full of life and completely embraces its grandiloquence.

The director

Johnnie To (1955) became internationally famous with his later crime thrillers (PTU, 2003; BREAKING NEWS, 2004; ELECTION, 2005), but he started off on the heels of the Hong Kong New Wave at the end of the 1970s. After working for the TVB channel, he released his first film 1980, THE ENIGMATIC CASE, followed a few years later by the very successful ALL ABOUT AH-LONG (1989). With his writing partner Wai Ka-fai, he cofounded his own production company in 1996, the legendary Milkyway Image, host of his most personal films. 

Selected filmography

1980 – THE ENIGMATIC CASE
1988 – THE BIG HEAT
1989 – ALL ABOUT AH-LONG
1993 – THE HEROIC TRIO
1997 – LIFELINE
1999 – THE MISSION
2000 – FULLTIME KILLER
2003 – RUNNING ON KARMA
2004 – THROW DOWN
2004 – BREAKING NEWS
2005 – ELECTION
2006 – EXILED
2007 – MAD DETECTIVE
2008 – SPARROW
2009 – VENGEANCE
2013 – DRUG WAR
2013 – BLIND DETECTIVE
2015 – OFFICE
2016 – THREE