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Four Hong Kong movies are in the 42nd Seattle International Film Festival line-up. The Festival, which opened on May 19 and will run till June 12, is the largest of its kind in the United States. This year, it features more than 420 films from 85 countries.
The Hong Kong movies featured are "Murmur of the Hearts", directed by Sylvia Chang; "The Mobfathers", directed by Herman Yau; "The Bodyguard", directed by Sammo Hung; and "Trivisa", directed by Frank Hui, Jevons Au and Vicky Wong.
Before the screening of "Murmur of the Hearts" today (June 6, Seattle time), a Hong Kong reception was hosted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco. Speaking to the guests, the Office's Director, Ms Subrina Chow, thanked the festival organiser for bringing the four new productions from Hong Kong to Seattle and for its continuous support of Hong Kong movies. "Filmmaking is a very important and widely supported industry in Hong Kong. To ensure the long-term health of the industry, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government set up the Hong Kong Film Development Fund 16 years ago. Since 2007, the Fund has been providing up to 40 per cent financing for small to medium-budget films, and has so far supported the production of 33 Hong Kong movies. Seventeen directors and 20 producers involved in these productions were directing or producing commercial feature films for the very first time," Ms Chow said.
In November 2015, the Hong Kong Film Development Fund announced a new pilot Film Production Grant Scheme targeting films of no more than $10 million in production budget. This new scheme will provide a grant to cover 20 per cent of the approved production budget or actual production cost. The grant can be used on remuneration of local production crew and the cost of shooting and production or post-production conducted in Hong Kong.
"We hope to nurture more future talents for Hong Kong and bring more quality Hong Kong productions to Seattle in the years ahead," Ms Chow said.
Ends/Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Issued at HKT 10:50
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