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The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin (HKETO Berlin) has embarked on its journey to stage Hong Kong Film Festivals in central and eastern Europe. About 200 guests from the government, cultural and business sectors attended a reception in Kino Arsenal in Berlin yesterday (May 21, Berlin time) to celebrate the opening of the Hong Kong Film Festival, which will run until May 31. The opening night reception was attended by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam. Following the reception, the opening film "Unbeatable", an award-winning drama directed by Dante Lam and starring movie stars Nick Cheung and Eddie Peng, delighted the audience.
In co-operation with Kino Arsenal, HKETO Berlin is presenting eight contemporary Hong Kong films at this year's edition of the Film Festival including the award-winning drama "Unbeatable", the thrilling crime film "Blind Detective" and the thriller "Infernal Affairs", one of Hong Kong's highest-grossing films in history.
At the 16th Shanghai International Film Festival in June 2013, "Unbeatable" received the Golden Goblet award for Best Actor Nick Cheung, who also won the Best Actor award at the recent 2014 Hong Kong Film Awards. "The Way We Dance" received the Fukuoka Audience Award in the Focus on Asia International Film Festival Fukuoka in September 2013.
In her welcome remarks, Mrs Lam talked about the Hong Kong film industry. "Despite the fact that Hong Kong is only a small city with a population of about 7 million, our actors, actresses, directors, cinematographers and producers have become household names in the world, and our movies have also been inspirational to many outside Hong Kong. Hong Kong's exciting style of action movie has inspired a number of international blockbusters. As some of you may know, the Oscar-winning film 'The Departed' is an American remake of the Hong Kong thriller 'Infernal Affairs', which is one of the movies featured in this Film Festival," she said.
Mrs Lam also described the development of the Hong Kong movie scene over the years since the first Hong Kong-produced movie, "Zhuangzi Tests His Wife", which was screened in 1914. "Today, Hong Kong films not only thrill locals but are also eye-catching for overseas audiences. I hope the Hong Kong Film Festival in Berlin will help share with our friends in Germany our culture and passion. Surely Hong Kong and Berlin also enjoy a special connection in film, as Hong Kong's movie 'Echoes of the Rainbow' won the Crystal Bear award in Berlinale 2010," she said.
Mrs Lam further emphasised the importance of the strengthening collaboration between Hong Kong's film industry and Mainland China's film studios. "In recent years, our film industry has taken advantage of a unique free trade pact with our motherland called the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, or CEPA, to gain access to the film market in the Mainland of China, where Hong Kong-Mainland China film co-productions are treated as local films in the Mainland. As a result, the number of these co-productions has grown tremendously from about 10 in 2004 to about 30 today. More importantly, overseas film companies incorporated in Hong Kong can enjoy the same benefits of CEPA as local filmmakers in reaching the Mainland China market," she said.
Following the Berlin event, another Hong Kong Film Festival will be presented at the Metropolis Kino in Hamburg from June 17 to 30.
To view the Berlin programme, please visit:
www.hketoberlin.gov.hk/download/press/press-20140424.pdf.
About HKETO Berlin
HKETO Berlin is the official Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government representative in commercial relations and other economic and trade matters in Germany as well as Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Ends/Thursday, May 22, 2014
Issued at HKT 19:28
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