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Hong Kong film director Mr. Chan Wing Chiu attended the premiere screening of ¡§A Decade of Love¡¨ in Chicago at the Gene Siskel Film Center on May 1 evening (Chicago time), kicking off the ¡§Hong Kong Cinema: The Next Generation¡¨ film series.
Mr. Chan is the director of the ¡§Red Egg on the Road¡¨ story featured in the film.
Speaking at the film screening, Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, New York, Ms. Monica Chen, said, ¡§This month-long Hong Kong film series will present eight films that are representation of the new face of Hong Kong cinema. This new generation of film makers not only forms an integral part of Hong Kong¡¦s robust and creative film industry; they are also key to the thriving creative industry in Hong Kong.¡¨
¡§It also represents a manifestation of the good efforts by Hong Kong¡¦s next generation of filmmakers in continuously contributing to the development of the entire film industry,¡¨ said Ms. Chen.
¡§A Decade of Love¡¨ features nine independent stories by 10 directors, displaying the lifestyle and pace of the modern people in the 21st century, and also demonstrating the directors¡¦ passion for Hong Kong in the last decade.
Following the film screening, Mr. Chan hosted a discussion session with the audience. He said ¡§A Decade of Love¡¨, with its collection of 10-minute short films set in various prominent Hong Kong locations, conveys the theme of ¡§love¡¨ through the eyes of the different directors 10 years after the 1997 Handover.
Mr. Chan noted that ¡§A Decade of Love¡¨ is not the typical Hong Kong movie, adding that it is a departure from the Hong Kong action movie genres that most American audiences are familiar with. He said this represents new directions Hong Kong directors are exploring in the film industry.
The other movies featured in ¡§Hong Kong Cinema: The Next Generation¡¨ film series include ¡§Golden Chicken¡¨, ¡§The Drummer¡¦, ¡§The Pye Dog¡¨, ¡§Mob Sister¡¨, ¡§Fatal Contact¡¨, ¡§Mr. Cinema¡¨ and ¡§Eye in the Sky¡¨.
A program highlight of the film series is a short illustrated lecture on the evolution of Hong Kong film genres by Ms. Barbara Scharres, Director of Programming at the Gene Siskel Film Center, on May 2, after the screening of ¡§Golden Chicken¡¨.
¡§Hong Kong Cinema: The Next Generation¡¨ is a core program of the ¡§Hong Kong Comes to Chicago 2009¡¨ festival, held in conjunction with Chicago¡¦s month-long celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, throughout the month of May.
Other events in the month-long festival include the ¡§This is Hong Kong¡¨ photo-exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center; another multi-media exhibition showcasing Hong Kong through the eyes of five students from Northwestern University¡¦s Medill School of Journalism, and gallery talks about Hong Kong and Chinese art.
Ends/Sunday, May 3, 2009
Issued at HKT 06:17
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