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Since the 2013 European tour of the Hong Kong Film Panorama was launched in Lisbon in January, the annual festival of recent Hong Kong films organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), Brussels has been held in Madrid, Florence and Rome, and has now opened in Amsterdam and Barcelona.
Nine films are being screened at the ultra-modern EYE Film Institute in Amsterdam from May 5 to 15. The iconic waterfront building is where the new King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, celebrated with his subjects after his investiture on May 30 before embarking on a boat tour of the city.
This is the ninth consecutive year that the HKETO, Brussels is bringing the Hong Kong Film Panorama to Amsterdam. On the programme are Mr Yim Ho's "Floating City", Ms Ann Hui's "A Simple Life", Mr Derek Yee's "The Great Magician", Mr Alan Mak and Mr Felix Chong's "Overheard 2". Concurrently, the EYE Film Institute is holding a retrospective of the work of Mr Wong Kar-wai, including "The Grandmaster", "In the Mood for Love", "Ashes of Time Redux", "Chungking Express" and "Happy Together".
On May 8, the Hong Kong Film Panorama opened in Barcelona where nine films will be screened at the Filmoteca de Catalunya until May 18, namely Ms Hui's "My Way" and "A Simple Life", Mr Jeffrey Lau's "East Meets West", Mr Herman Yau's "Love Lifting", Mr Oxide Pang's "The Detective 2", Mr Daniel Lee's "White Vengeance", Mr Bill Yip's "Cure", Mr Ho's "Floating City", and Mr Yee's "The Great Magician".
This is the eighth consecutive year that the HKETO, Brussels is bringing Hong Kong films to Barcelona audience, in co-operation with its Spanish partner organisation, Casa Asia.
Speaking at the opening reception of the film event in Barcelona today (May 8, Barcelona time), representatives from the HKETO, Brussels, highlighted that the HKSAR Government was keen to promote the creative industries. The 40-hectare West Kowloon Cultural District would host the best cultural and arts programmes and exhibitions from around the world starting from 2015. The Comix Home Base and the former Police Marine Headquarters would provide new platforms for the growth of animation, comics and design in Hong Kong. All these new facilities would stimulate more arts and cultural exchanges and provide opportunities for European artists to showcase their talents.
As regards the film industry, the Government endeavoured to assist small to medium budget movies through its Film Development Fund (FDF). One of the 28 productions supported since the Fund's inception in 2007 was Mr Yau's "Love Lifting", which is among this year's Hong Kong Film Panorama selection.
The Government's latest measure to support the film industry, the First Feature Film Initiative, was launched by CreateHK with the support of the FDF on March 19. The initiative aims to nurture prospective film production talents to help promote the long-term development of Hong Kong's film industry.
Hong Kong films continue to achieve international acclaim. Most recently, Mr Johnnie To's movie "Drug War", was awarded the Grand Prix at the fifth international thriller festival in Beaune, France in April.
Ends/Thursday, May 9, 2013
Issued at HKT 03:00
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