City branding is a strategic instrument to publicize a city’s competitive advantages by highlighting distinctive characteristics of the city. This study uses cinema as a discursive lens to examine city branding and explicates a framework for implementing city branding through cinema. An analysis of 81 Hong Kong films produced between 2008 and 2015 reveal the modalities by which city officials and media producers affect a city brand that distinguishes Hong Kong from other East Asian cities. Specifically, Hong Kong filmmakers 1) use local color as backdrops for stories, 2) emphasize freedom of expression, 3) highlight regional localities, and 4) claim historical figures associated with the city. The findings reflect strategic attempts by Hong Kong city officials and media producers to negotiate the city’s postcolonial identity, even two decades after Hong Kong’s reunification with China. The results suggest that Hong Kong uses cinemamediated city branding as a form of subversive resistance to China. More broadly, the implementation framework could be deployed by other emergent cities (e.g. Dubai), which are looking to increase their profile and cultural footprint in the global stage through creative markets.