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It is striking to see how mainstream the status of Hong Kong's martial arts films in the US has become after Jackie Chan's popularity sparked a resurgence of interest in Hong Kong cinema in recent years, the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in San Francisco, Ms Annie Tang, said in Los Angeles, tonight (February 28, US time).

Speaking at the opening night of "Heroic Grace - The Chinese Martial Arts Film" series, Ms Tang told over 500 kung fu movie lovers at the Writers Guild Theatre at Beverly Hills that some of Hong Kong's best directors, cinematographers, and martial arts choreographers, had since then embarked on successful careers that span the Pacific.

Noting that credit for the mainstreaming of martial arts films could also be attributed to US director Quentin Tarantino, who introduced some classics of the genre to Western viewers, Ms Tang said the Hong Kong aesthetic of the kung-fu genre, in which agility and skill were more important than sheer size and power, had caught on in even the most mainstream Hollywood productions.

"We are proud to say that some of those kung fu classics that were once relegated to the after-midnight time slot on American television are now celebrated by established cultural institutions like the ULCA Film and Television Archive," she said.

All of this interest has helped to revitalize Hong Kong's film industry, which is getting a considerable amount of attention from the government as well.

She said, "We are taking steps to make Hong Kong an ever-more-attractive place for international filmmakers to ply their craft. This includes cutting red tape for directors who want to film on location on the streets of Hong Kong, as worked so well in the film 'Rush Hour II', and more recently 'Tomb Raider 2'."

At the same time, the government is bolstering local studios with loan guarantee packages to get new projects off the ground. Under the new Film Guarantee Fund, Hong Kong studios that have produced three or more films in the past, including independent studios, can now apply for loan guarantee that covers, in some cases, up to 35% of their total budgets.

"This is a sign of how seriously the government of Hong Kong takes the film industry, and I think rightly so. Aside from supporting art for art's sake, it's no secret that every dollar spent on filming in Hong Kong generates $2.50 for the local economy," she added.

Ms Tang also thanked director John Woo, who has generously served as Chairman of the film series organized by the UCLA Film and Television Archive with the HKETO in San Francisco as the presenting sponsor.

Featuring a total of 19 films directed by the genre's most innovative directors including Zhang Che, King Hu, Lau Kar-leung, Chu Yuan and Wang Xinglei, the film series traces the development of the martial arts film from the silent wuxia pian made in Shanghai in the 1920s and early 30s, through the 40s and 50s when production shifted to Hong Kong and Taiwan, to the ascendancy of the "new school" Mandarin swordplay films in the 60s and the kung fu heyday of the 70s.

The film series opened with "Executioners from Shaolin" directed by Lau Kar-leung. Many of the films will go on a 15-city tour in North America after the series closes on March 16.

End/Saturday, March 1, 2003

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