Sixth Hong Kong Thematic Film Festival launched in Beijing (with photos)
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The film festival is one of the major programmes organised in Beijing under the theme "Together · Progress · Opportunity" to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to the motherland. Since 2012, the film festival has been held annually in different Mainland cities to promote contemporary Hong Kong film culture and to foster active exchange between the Hong Kong and Mainland film circles. This year, classic movies selected from the history of the Hong Kong Film Awards over the past years will be screened to audiences in 16 Mainland cities.
Officiating at the opening ceremony were the Director of the Beijing Office, Ms Gracie Foo; the President of Edko Films Limited, Mr Bill Kong; Hong Kong film poster artist Yuen Tai-yung; Hong Kong film director Hui See-wai; and noted actress and ambassador of the film festival this year Tang Wei.
Speaking at the ceremony, Ms Foo said that Hong Kong's film industry experienced new development in the past 20 years and became an important medium of cultural exchange between the Mainland and Hong Kong. Since the signing of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement in 2003, the door of the Mainland film market has been open to the Hong Kong film industry and filmmakers, creating new opportunities for Mainland-Hong Kong co-operation in film production. The 2017 film festival is being presented as a gift by the HKSAR to the Mainland audience to commemorate this new high point in the history of Hong Kong. She expressed the hope that the film industries and the audiences in the two places would continue to grow and flourish, and complement each other through enhanced exchange.
Mr Kong said that Broadway would continue to nurture creative young film talents in Hong Kong and the Mainland, as well as promote small and medium-budget film productions. Broadway would continue to act as a bridge to connect the film industries and to foster film culture exchange in the two places. He added that the solid development of the Hong Kong film festival was the outcome of a shared vision and joint efforts of the Government, the industry and the audience.
This year's film festival ambassador is Tang Wei, a noted film star who has had fruitful co-operation with Hong Kong filmmakers. The opening ceremony today was followed by a screening of "Crossing Hennessy", a warm Hong Kong production featuring her in the lead.
The Beijing leg of the film festival this year will screen a further 13 films from August 2 to 13 at Broadway Cinematheque MOMA and Broadway Cinema (Beijing apm store), namely "Ah Ying", "The Lunatics", "Beyond the Sunset", "All About Ah Long", "Days of Being Wild", "Center Stage", "92 The Legendary La Rose Noire", "The Soong Sisters", "Beast Cops", "Shaolin Soccer", "July Rhapsody", "After This Our Exile" and "The Posterist". Spanning from the 1980s and the 21st century, this selection of films features a rich array of genres with different characteristics, and many are being screened in the Mainland for the first time.
Apart from film screenings, there will also be post-screening talks, new book release sharing sessions, activities for film buffs and more, creating further opportunities for exchange and interaction between filmmakers, cinephiles and film researchers.
After the Beijing leg, the film festival embarks on a 15-city tour covering Jinan, Chongqing, Tianjin, Chengdu, Shenyang, Dalian, Kunming, Shenzhen, Foshan, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Shanghai, Wuhan and Changsha before closing on December 31.
Ends/Monday, July 31, 2017
Issued at HKT 22:44
Issued at HKT 22:44
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