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To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Berlin (HKETO Berlin) continues its tour to stage Hong Kong Film Festivals in Germany. Building on the enthusiastic reception in Berlin in early July, HKETO Berlin is organising the first Hong Kong Film Festival in Dˆ¢sseldorf (August 3-6) in cooperation with the Filmmuseum Dˆ¢sseldorf and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). A Simple Life, the awarding winning film directed by Ann Hui, was again selected as the opening film.
Over the years, Hong Kong films have gained considerable worldwide acclaim. For decades, the city was known as the ¡§Hollywood of the East¡¨, and its unique ¡§action cinema¡¨ genre remains a potent force in international cinema. As testimony to the international recognition of Hong Kong films, the heart-warming Echoes of Rainbow was honoured with the Crystal Bear at the Berlinale in 2010; and Wong Kar Wai¡¦s romantic In the Mood for Love won the Best Foreign Film award at the Deutscher Filmpreis 2001.
In recent years, Hong Kong¡¦s film industry has broadened its horizons through closer cooperation with Mainland China. The Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) has vastly expanded Hong Kong¡¦s access to China¡¦s movie market. In his welcoming remarks at the opening reception, the Director of the HKETO Berlin, Mr Ivan Lee encouraged German creative industry companies to utilise this platform: ¡§Through Hong Kong, you can take advantage of CEPA, as well as our transparent, friendly business environment and strong intellectual property protection, to expand into the growing China market.¡¨
About 100 guests attended the reception and the screening in the Black Box cinema of the Dˆ¢sseldorf Filmmuseum, among them, senior state and city government officials, as well as leading figures from the cultural and business sector also graced the occasion.
The Hong Kong Film Festival in Dˆ¢sseldorf continues until August 6 (Monday) and presents a wide range of productions from multi-million dollar blockbusters such as The Great Magician to independent productions such as Big Blue Lake.
HKETO Berlin is organising a series of events to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the HKSAR. After the German premiere of A Simple Life at the 30th Munich Film Festival, the film festivals in Berlin and Dˆ¢sseldorf, Hamburg (August 16-29, Metropolis Cinema) will also host its own edition of the Hong Kong Film Festival. The Hong Kong Children Choir will travel to Germany to stage concerts in Berlin¡¦s Lindenkirche and Hamburg¡¦s Miralles Saal on August 23 and August 26 respectively. There will also be celebration events in other cities under the purview of the HKETO Berlin.
About Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Berlin
HKETO Berlin is HKSAR Government¡¦s first overseas representative office established since Hong Kong¡¦s reunification with China in 1997. It is the official HKSAR Government representative in commercial relations and other economic and trade matters in Germany, as well as in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Ends/Saturday, August 4, 2012
Issued at HKT 09:22
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