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The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin (HKETO Berlin) presented "Hong Kong Day" at the 10th Filmasia festival in Prague on December 5. About 130 guests from the government, cultural and business sectors attended the screening of "The Golden Era", an epic drama directed by the renowned Hong Kong director Ann Hui, in Cinema Lucerna and the post-screening reception.
Co-operating with Axman Production for the second consecutive year, HKETO Berlin supported "Hong Kong Day", which showcased four titles from renowned Hong Kong directors, namely Ann Hui's newest epic drama "The Golden Era", Li Chi-ngai's action comedy "Horseplay", Johnnie To's highly stylish "Sparrow" and Benny Chan's crime thriller "The White Storm".
The film industry is the flagship of Hong Kong's creative industries. Over the years the local film industry has gained worldwide recognition and acclaim. Hong Kong movies and film talents have won over 400 international awards in the past decade. For example, "The Golden Era", one of the Hong Kong movies featured in this year's Filmasia, was chosen as the closing movie at the Venice Film Festival in September.
In her welcome remarks, the Director of HKETO Berlin, Ms Betty Ho, highlighted the Czech Republic's thriving history in filmmaking and Hong Kong's dynamic film industry. "Film is indeed a good medium for cultural exchanges as good movies can transcend cultural or language barriers. The Czech Republic has its own long history of cinema and has produced some of the most iconic figures in world cinematography. Hong Kong also has more than a century's history in filmmaking, and has long been dubbed the 'Hollywood of the East'," she said.
Ms Ho went on to stress the importance of the strengthening collaboration between Hong Kong's film industry and Mainland China's film studios. "Hong Kong is the natural bridge between Mainland China and the rest of the world. Overseas film companies incorporated in Hong Kong can also take advantage of our unique free trade agreement with Mainland China, the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, or CEPA, in entering the huge Mainland China market. I encourage Czech creative talents to utilise Hong Kong as the gateway to tap the growing business opportunities in Mainland China."
Following the Hong Kong Film Festivals in Berlin (May 21 to 31) and Hamburg (June 17 to 30), as well as the "Focus: Hong Kong" section of the International Film Festival Bratislava (November 7 to 14) and the "Made in Hong Kong" section of the Five Flavours Festival in Warsaw (November 12 to 20), Filmasia in Prague (December 1 to 7) was the final stop of the 2014 series of Hong Kong Film Festivals in Central and Eastern Europe.
Link to the Prague programme: www.filmasia.cz/¡@
About Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin
HKETO Berlin is the official Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government representative in commercial relations and other economic and trade matters in the Czech Republic, as well as Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Ends/Monday, December 8, 2014
Issued at HKT 18:21
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