M+ Cinema is celebrating the landmark M+ Restored Festival 2026 this autumn, presenting the first festival devoted to the museum's M+ Restored initiative. The programme schedules 24 screenings across the season, bringing together all nine restored features for the first time.

M+ Restored, launched in July 2023 as a three-year partnership between M+ and CHANEL, restores nine feature-length films that chart the creative experimentation and technical innovation of the Hong Kong New Wave. The films include T'ang Shushuen's 'The Arch' (1968), which premiered in 4K at Cannes in 2025; Tsui Hark's 'The Butterfly Murders' (1979); Peter Yung's 'The System' (1979); Patrick Tam's 'Love Massacre' (1981); Ann Hui's 'The Story of Woo Viet' (1981); Yim Ho's 'Homecoming' (1984); Stanley Kwan's 'Just Like Weather' (1986); Jacob Cheung's 'Cageman' (1992); and Fruit Chan's 'Durian Durian' (2000).

Selected restorations are paired with contemporary films to draw out intergenerational resonances — Ann Hui's 'The Story of Woo Viet' with Chan Kin-long's 'Hand Rolled Cigarette' (2020), Yim Ho's 'Homecoming' with Bai Xue's 'The Crossing' (2018), and Fruit Chan's 'Durian Durian' with Philip Yung's 'Port of Call' (2015). Post-screening conversations bring filmmakers including Ann Hui, Chan Kin-long, Bai Xue, Yim Ho, Philip Yung, and Fruit Chan together with audiences, alongside 'Behind the Restoration' talks and workshops titled 'What Is Film, Anyway?'.

The festival arrives as M+ marks its fifth anniversary season, positioning the restored films as a cornerstone of the museum's moving-image programme. As a survey of the New Wave from the late 1970s into the 2000s, it doubles as an argument for the movement's continuing relevance to contemporary Hong Kong cinema.