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After a successful start in Hamburg (October 8 to 14) and supporting the Hong Kong focus of the Five Flavours Film Festival in Warsaw (November 4 to 11), the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin (HKETO Berlin) continued its journey to stage Hong Kong Film Festivals in central and eastern Europe. About 200 guests from the government, cultural and business sectors gathered in the Hackesche HÖfe cinema to celebrate the opening of the Hong Kong Film Festival in Berlin, running from November 14 to 17. Following the reception, the opening film "Floating City", an intriguing melodrama directed by the renowned Hong Kong director Yim Ho and starring Hong Kong movie stars Aaron Kwok and Charlie Young, delighted the audience.
HKETO Berlin is presenting eight contemporary Hong Kong movies at this year's edition of the Film Festival including the 1930s gangster epic "The Last Tycoon", the touching independent production "A Fig" and the award-winning thriller "Cold War". In 2012, 16 Hong Kong movies won international awards, among them "Cold War", "Vulgaria" and "The Silent War", all to be screened in the coming days. At the 68th Venice International Film Festival, the film "A Simple Life" received the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for Deanie Ip, and Wong Kar-wai's epic martial arts drama "The Grandmaster" was selected as the opening movie at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.
In his welcome remarks, the Director of HKETO Berlin, Mr Ivan K B Lee, highlighted Hong Kong's thriving creative industry and encouraged Berlin's creative talents to explore the unique opportunities that Hong Kong has to offer. Mr Lee said, "As an open society that encourages creativity and diversity, there is much scope for further collaboration between creative talents from Berlin and Hong Kong. I encourage German creative talents and entrepreneurs to use Hong Kong as the super-connector between Mainland China and the rest of the world."
Mr Lee further emphasised the importance of the strengthening collaboration between Hong Kong's film industry and Mainland China's film studios: "Hong Kong offers technical know-how and great actors while benefiting from the Mainland's financial and location resources," he said. This co-operation is supported by the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, which expands Hong Kong's access to the Mainland's movie market. Hong Kong also regularly hosts important film-related events such as the Hong Kong International Film Festival and the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market.
Besides promoting Hong Kong's film industry, Mr Lee also highlighted two initiatives to further enrich the creative landscape in Hong Kong. The West Kowloon Cultural District is a flagship project to develop a 40-hectare prime waterfront site into a world-class integrated arts and cultural district. PMQ (which stands for the former Police Married Quarters) is a heritage building revitalised into a hub for cultural and creative establishments in our central business district to provide a focal point for designers. Mr Lee in particular noted that PMQ may be of interest to design talents from Berlin who would like to reach out to the fast-growing markets in Asia.
To complete the 2013 Hong Kong Film Festival series, HKETO Berlin will support the Hong Kong focus of FILMASIA in Prague (November 28 to December 2) this year.
Link to the Berlin programme:
www.hketoberlin.gov.hk/download/pdf/HongKong_FilmFestival_Berlin_Programm_2013.pdf .
About HKETO Berlin
HKETO Berlin is the official Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government representative in commercial relations and other economic and trade matters in Germany, as well as Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Ends/Friday, November 15, 2013
Issued at HKT 21:09
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