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The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Singapore today (September 18) presents the four-day "Hong Kong Movies: The Last Decade" event to celebrate the cultural achievements of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) since its establishment 10 years ago.
Today's opening featured a cocktail reception and a special screening of "Three - Going Home" (2002) directed by Hong Kong director Peter Chan, who made a special appearance to promote Hong Kong's film industry and to introduce his productions.
HKETO Director Mr K K Lam said at the reception that the event provided a marvellous opportunity to demonstrate the vibrancy and innovative flair of Hong Kong's movie industry, which remained vigorous in the last decade with the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Basic Law.
Mr Lam told some 200 Singapore guests who attended the opening that Hong Kong was not only an important hub for trade, finance and tourism, tt was also a creative city where East meets West. "Hong Kong's film industry is a good example of the city's depth of creative talent. Hong Kong actors, directors, cinematographers and producers have become household names at global level. They are winning acclaim for their unique style, incisive direction and sometimes off-beat storylines," Mr Lam said.
"Indeed, Martin Scorsese's film, 'The Departed' - which won him an Oscar this year for best director - is based on the popular 2002 Hong Kong crime thriller 'Infernal Affairs'. The move by Hollywood to acquire rights to remake Hong Kong movies is just one example showing that Hong Kong continues to play a prominent part on the world cinema stage after the handover.
"The HKSAR Government is also dedicated to building a favourable environment for the industry to flourish. The Film Services Office streamlines procedures for location shooting to promote Hong Kong as a leading film production centre of Asia Pacific.
"In April this year, our Government formed a Film Development Council to advise on the policy and strategy for the promotion and development of the film industry, as well as the use of public funds to support the industry. We have also injected $300 million into the Film Development Fund and expanded its scope to finance the production of small-to-medium budget films in addition to other projects conducive to the healthy and long-term development of the film industry."
He hoped the cultural ties between Hong Kong and Singapore would be further strengthened with the organisation of such events.
The cocktail reception was followed by the screening of the Cantonese version of "Three - Going Home" for the first time in Singapore. In this movie, director Chan, together with cinematographer Chris Doyle, brings a brilliant rework of horror, science fiction, tradition and suspense in a most unconventional love story. Leon Lai won the Best Actor Award at the 39th Golden Horse Awards for his outstanding performance in the film.
The four-day event will continue from September 21 to 23 in a cinema and an outdoor venue featuring the following Hong Kong productions: "The Stormriders" (1998) directed by Andrew Lau; "Visible Secret" (2001) directed by Ann Hui; "Shaolin Soccer" (2001) directed by Stephen Chow; "Just One Look" (2002) directed by Riley Yip; "Inner Senses" (2002) directed by Law Chi Leung; "1:99 Shorts" (2003) comprising 11 short films by Hong Kong directors; "McDull Prince de la Bun" (2004) directed by Toe Yuen; "Divergence" (2005) directed by Benny Chan; and "Mr Cinema" (2007) directed by Samson Chiu. Three of these nine films have never been publicly screened in Singapore.
Ends/Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Issued at HKT 21:45
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