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Following the success of the inaugural "Hong Kong Cinema", a film festival dedicated to Hong Kong movies, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco, in association with the San Francisco Film Society presents the second "Hong Kong Cinema" festival.
The festival opened tonight (September 21, San Francisco time) with Mr Pang Ho-cheung's "Love in the Buff". About 150 guests, including local art and culture community leaders as well as guests from the film industry, attended the opening night premiere and VIP reception .
Apart from featuring recent Hong Kong films that showcase the city's range of cinematic storytelling, this year's festival also includes three retrospective - Mr Peter Chan's "Comrades" and "Almost a Love Story", Mr Patrick Yau's "The Longest Nite" and Mr Fruit Chan's "Made in Hong Kong".
"The reason for including a three-film retrospective representing the vast thematic range of cinema in Hong Kong during the past 15 years is to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This makes this year's festival very unique and we are able to present a total of nine movies in a variety of genres," said Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco, Mr Jeff Leung, at the opening night premiere.
Mr Leung said that the film industry is one of the driving forces of the creative industry in Hong Kong. "Over the years, Hong Kong actors, directors, cinematographers and producers have become household names at global level by producing a large number of high quality movies. In the past 10 years alone, Hong Kong movies and film talents have won more than 300 international awards, including achievements and participation in various international film festivals."
One of the movies included in the "Hong Kong Cinema", "A Simple Life", has scooped numerous awards in regional and international film festivals, including the Venice Film Festival, Taipei's Golden Horse Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards.
The other movies included in the festival, which runs from September 21 to 23, are "The Great Magician", "Love Me Not", "Nightfall and Romancing in Thin Air".
Hong Kong movies have attracted much international interests. "Hollywood has acquired rights to remake Hong Kong movies. 'The Departed' and 'The Eye' are a few examples," said Mr Leung.
"In addition to the first-rate artistes, Hong Kong also provides state-of-the-art facilities and high quality services for film production, including professionals who specialise in creating digital visual effects and computer animated films. From shooting to post-production, Hong Kong offers everything needed to make a full-length film," he concluded.
Ends/Saturday, September 22, 2012
Issued at HKT 11:49
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