The first feature film of a young Hong Kong director opened the 10th CinemAsia Film Festival in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on March 7 (Amsterdam time). The film, "Mad World" by Wong Chun, is also in competition at the Festival.

     The CinemAsia Film Festival is dedicated to broadening the horizons of the Dutch film audience by offering the best of contemporary Asian film. It strives to bring together Dutch and Asian communities and its FilmLAB initiative provides a creative platform for media makers to tell stories from the Dutch Asian diaspora. The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Brussels (HKETO, Brussels) is proud to be one of the Festival's sponsors again and to share Hong Kong movies with Dutch film lovers.

     Speaking at the opening reception, the Deputy Representative of HKETO, Brussels, Miss Alice Choi, said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government wants to encourage more local film production and nurture new talents, notably through the Film Development Fund and Create Hong Kong’s First Feature Film Initiative (FFFI). She noted that "Mad World", which has already received a number of awards, is one of the films supported by the FFFI, which identifies new talents through a competition on screenplay and production proposals.

     The film was then introduced by the Festival Director, Ms Lorna Tee, who moderated a question-and-answer session between the audience and a producer of "Mad World", Hong Kong writer and film director Heiward Mak.

     The CinemAsia Film Festival will also screen "Taxi Stories" by Doris Yeung, which will be shown as part of the Festival’s Official Selection.

     On the occasion of its 10th edition, the Festival has added an additional "Iconic" category, for which eight Dutch celebrities were asked to choose their favourite film and to explain their choice at the movie’s screening. Dutch film director Norbert ter Hall selected Wong Kar-wai's "Chungking Express" as his iconic choice.

     The Festival is also screening Boo Junfeng's "Apprentice", a Hong Kong co-production.

     The CinemAsia Film Festival is being held at the Filmtheater Kriterion and the Rialto in Amsterdam from March 7 to 12. More information can be found at http://cinemasia.nl/en/hong-kong/.

Ends/Thursday, March 9, 2017
Issued at HKT 22:53

NNNN