**********************************************************
Barcelona, Spain's second largest city with one of the country's most lively cultural scenes, is the ninth and final stop of the 2009-2010 European tour of the Hong Kong Film Panorama, which has delighted audiences in Antwerp, Brussels, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Athens, Madrid, Florence and Malta in the past 12 months.
This is the fifth year that the Hong Kong Film Panorama is held in Barcelona. Initiated by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), Brussels, the film panorama presents a selection of Hong Kong's latest films and tours Europe every year.
A number of new cities - Lisbon, Athens, Florence and Malta - were added to the festival's circuit this season, introducing Hong Kong's creativity to a wider audience.
Speaking at a reception yesterday (April 26, Barcelona time), Deputy Representative for Hong Kong Economic and Trade Affairs to the European Union, Ms Hinny Lam, said that cinema is very close to the hearts of Hong Kong people and forms an important part of the city's history and culture.
With just seven million inhabitants, Hong Kong is among the world's largest film exporters and producers per capita, with 70 films made in 2009. Hong Kong films are also gaining increasing recognition from the international film industry.
"The Hong Kong SAR Government has implemented a series of measures to support the industry and to nurture new talent by financing small to medium-budget films. The results are encouraging.
"Since October 2007, we have established a Film Development Fund, which has supported 14 films including Alex Law's 'Echoes of the Rainbow', which recently won the Crystal Bear for Best Film at the Berlinale 2010," Ms Lam said.
Twelve films selected with the help of the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society are being shown at Barcelona's Filmoteca de Catalunya from April 23 to 30 inclusive. They include Law Wing-cheung's thriller "Tactical Unit - Comrades in Arms", Johnnie To's "Sparrow", Lawrence Lau's youth drama "City without Baseball", Derek Kwok's police drama "The Moss", Herman Yau's non-fiction film "True Women for Sale", Heiward Mak's coming of age drama "High Noon", and Angie Chan's "This Darling Life", an original look at how people relate to their pets. In addition to these recent films, there is also a tribute to iconic director Tsui Hark with his films "Once Upon a Time in China (parts I, II and III)", "Shanghai Blues" and "Legend of Zu".
Ends/Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:18
NNNN
