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More than 150 guests joined the VIP reception to kick off the third Hong Kong Cinema in San Francisco today (October 4, San Francisco time). Among the guests was the film director, Mr Kiwi Chow, who came all the way from Hong Kong to support the festival, which will screen his first full-length film, "A Complicated Story", on the Closing Night on October 6.
Addressing guests and filmmakers at the Opening Night Reception, the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco, Ms Subrina Chow, said that the Office was pleased to partner with the San Francisco Film Society again this year to present an interesting selection of Hong Kong movies.
"There are the more familiar kung-fu classics and action thrillers as well as dramas and the lesser seen documentary. Well-known Hong Kong filmmakers - Johnnie To, Oxide Pang, Wong Jing and the late Lau Kar-leung – are presented alongside younger generation of gifted directors – Yan Yan Mak, Flora Lau and Kiwi Chow," Ms Chow said.
The Opening Night film, "Bends" is Flora Lau's debut feature film. "Bends" and Kiwi Chow's "A Complicated Story" are both recent projects supported by the Hong Kong Film Development Fund.
"The Hong Kong Film Development Fund was set up by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in 1999. It was expanded in 2007 to finance the production of small-to-medium budget films and has since supported the production of 27 Hong Kong films, including 'Echoes of the Rainbow', which won the Crystal Bear in Berlin and was presented in our first Hong Kong Cinema here in San Francisco.
"This past March, the Fund has just launched another initiative to nurture new film talents in Hong Kong. It will provide full funding for three new directors and their production teams to make their first commercial films. We will know by November which film proposals have been selected through competition, and we look forward to showcasing some of those productions in our future Hong Kong Cinema," Ms Chow said.
The three-day festival will kick off San Francisco Film Society's Fall Season. This year's festival features a total of eight Hong Kong movies, including a mini retrospective on well-known martial arts choreographer and director, the late Lau Kar-leung. His "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin" and "The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter" movies will be shown on October 5 and 6 respectively.
The other films include "Bends", "Blind Detective" (US Premiere), "The Last Tycoon", "The Great War: Director's Cut", "A Complicated Story" (International Premiere), and "Conspirators" (North American Premiere). Hong Kong icons appear throughout this year's festival. All movies are screened at the Vogue Theatre in San Francisco.
Ends/Saturday, October 5, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:30
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