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L'Immagine Ritrovata announced today (June 12) that it has opened the company's first overseas office in Hong Kong, using the city as the base to extend its film restoration service to a growing Asian clientele.
Founded in 1992 in Bologna, L'Immagine Ritrovata is the only laboratory in the world exclusively focused on repairing and restoring movies on 35mm and 16mm film, and turning them into digital formats. Director Mr Davide Pozzi said that Hong Kong presents a strategic location for the company to reach out to clients in this part of the world.
Mr Pozzi said, "Developments of the new digitisation technologies and the transition from film to digital in distribution mean there is a growing need of digitalisation of archival films. The active presence of L'Immagine Ritrovata in Asia for the past several years, as well as the lack of laboratories exclusively focused on film restoration, prompted us to start an operation in Hong Kong."
He added, "Asia has seen an emergence of growing restoration projects, not just in Hong Kong but also in Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and in Mainland China. Hong Kong is conveniently located within East Asia, which enables us to serve our Asian clients more effectively without long-distance logistics and significant time difference in communication. Clients from Hong Kong and Asia will save on the shipping costs while easily monitoring the progress of the work."
L'Immagine Ritrovata Asia's studio is located in Kwun Tong and is headed by local film industry veteran Mr Bede Cheng. L'Immagine Ritrovata has restored and digitalised previous Hong Kong titles including "Confucius", "The Way of the Dragon", "A Better Tomorrow" and more.
Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion Mr Jimmy Chiang said, "Hong Kong's approach of allowing free creativity is one reason why our film and creative industry can grow in such a rapid pace. L'Immagine Ritrovata's arrival in Hong Kong is a strong vote of confidence in Hong Kong and will add more appeal to Hong Kong as an international film centre."
About L'Immagine Ritrovata
Founded in 1992 in Bologna, L'Immagine Ritrovata is a highly specialised laboratory exclusively devoted in the arts and crafts of film restoration. It was developed from the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, an organisation devoted to preserving and promoting film culture. Today, L'Immagine Ritrovata is an international leader in film restoration and the Bologna laboratory is furnished with facilities that accommodate all film restoration workflows from 4K to photochemical. For more information, please visit www.immagineritrovata.asia.
About Invest Hong Kong
Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) is the department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government established in July 2000 to attract foreign direct investment and support overseas and Mainland businesses to set up or expand in Hong Kong. It provides free advice and customised services to help businesses succeed in Hong Kong's vibrant economy. As of December 2014, InvestHK had completed over 3,440 investment projects creating more than 37,500 new jobs in the first year of operation or expansion and over HK$91 billion of investment. For more information, please visit www.investhk.gov.hk.
For event photos, please visit www.flickr.com/photos/investhk/sets/72157652108382733.
Ends/Friday, June 12, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:33
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