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Following is the speech delivered by the Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, New York's reception for the opening of the Hong Kong Movie Week of the New York Asian Film Festival at Lincoln Center, New York, this evening (June 10, New York time):
Distinguished Guests, Stars of the big screen, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It's a great pleasure to be here with you for Hong Kong Movie Week of the New York Asian Film Festival. This is a wonderful occasion, not least because Hong Kong and New York both have an incredible cinematic history.
Arriving here in New York yesterday felt a bit like stepping onto a giant film set, and it wasn't even "Rush Hour". The people, the streets, the buildings, the traffic and the sight and sound have been so well mixed and matched by so many movie producers in movies ranging from "King Kong" to "Sex and the City" that New York is a very familiar city to many people in Hong Kong before they land in this city. For this we have to thank the movie industry.
This got me thinking about the first movie I went to see when I was a child. It was a film called "Dragon and Phoenix" (Às»ñÂù¼C«L) (Dragon-Phoenix Swordsmen) staring Yu So-chau which was first released in 1957. It is a black-and-white film, and a ticket cost just 20 cents Hong Kong ¡V not US cents!
The film was heavily promoted by the sale in cinemas of replica toy "Dragon and Phoenix" swords which was immensely popular with kids. The plastic toy industry had a big boost. It is just one small example of the impact that films have had on Hong Kong's economic and creative development.
In the creative stakes, Hong Kong has much to be proud of and much still to achieve. Today, cultural and creative industries are identified as one of our most promising emerging economic sectors. According to our figures there are more than 36,000 cultural and creative industry-related businesses, employing close to 200,000 people in Hong Kong. Together they contributed 4.7 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product in 2011.
As an international city, Hong Kong also embraces borderless collaboration in filmmaking and other creative sectors. Not only is our city a creative and cultural hub, we are also a connector-in-chief by linking overseas filmmaking companies to the opportunities in the Mainland of China, including the investment opportunities, creative opportunities and opportunity to reach large new and eager audiences.
Filmmakers from New York to Hollywood to Bollywood and elsewhere can team up with Hong Kong partners for groundbreaking co-productions that enjoy preferential access to markets in the Mainland of China. This is possible under our free trade pact, the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, or CEPA, the principal agreement of which was signed 10 years ago. Since then, the two sides have signed annual supplemental agreements.
Last year alone, seven of the top 10 box office hits in China were Hong Kong-Mainland co-productions.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is a little-known fact that I once played a lead role in a film produced by the renowned filmmaker Mabel Cheung. Unfortunately for me, it was not "Echoes of the Rainbow" or "The City of Glass" or any of her many other hits. My big chance came in the 1970s when I was studying in the UK, in the same city where Mabel (Cheung) was taking a post-graduate course in film making. She was making a film as a group graduation project based on the life of a Chinese immigrant family and gave me a part. There was no screen test, no training but a good deal of NG's and red faces. I have to say, politics is much easier.
Nevertheless, Hong Kong has produced an extraordinary array of cinematic talent over the years, who have pushed the boundaries of filmmaking from behind and in front of the camera. On that note, my warmest congratulations to Jackie Chan on his Star Asia Life Achievement Award. Other household names from Hong Kong include Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun-fat and Bruce Lee while John Woo and Tsui Hark are celebrated directors along with Wong Kar-wai who was recently honoured by France for his achievements.
Behind the scenes, I am very pleased that the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York has teamed up again this year with the New York Asian Film Festival. It is a great platform to showcase our city, celebrate our creative talent and to highlight the great opportunities for filmmakers here in New York and around the world to collaborate with Hong Kong.
Thank you very much.
Ends/Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Issued at HKT 07:39
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