The Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau and the Hong Kong Film Development Council (FDC) led the industry to participate in the 79th Cannes Film Festival in France, which is being held from May 12 to 23. Members of the delegation included Assistant Commissioner for Cultural and Creative Industries and Secretary-General of the FDC, Mr Gary Mak; the Chairman of the FDC, Dr Wilfred Wong; new-generation actors, emerging Hong Kong film producers as well as representatives of the winning teams of a funding scheme under the Film Development Fund. The lineup introduced Hong Kong cinema's rising talent and innovative strength to the international film community.

     CCIDA and the FDC collaborated with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to set up the Hong Kong Pavilion themed "Hong Kong Cinema @ Cannes 2026" at the festival's film market, and supported Hong Kong filmmakers in exploring overseas film markets and expanding their global networks through a series of activities. One of the highlights, the "Hong Kong Night" reception, was held on May 16 (Cannes time), attracting around 600 industry representatives and filmmakers from around the world, who engaged with the Hong Kong delegates (including new-generation actors Carlos Chan and Natalie Hsu) to foster market development and creative collaboration. CCIDA and the FDC also organised seminars on artificial intelligence and Asian film financing collaboration with a focus on the creative technology applications and diverse development of film production in Asia, aiming to drive cultural exchange and foster new technology and cross-border collaborations between the East and the West.

     To assist Hong Kong's film industry to identify potential partners for international collaborations, CCIDA held a Hong Kong project pitching session during the festival for the filmmakers to introduce their original projects to overseas industry players, and arranged business matching sessions with filmmakers from Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Korea, and Spain. Attending Hong Kong delegates included five producers (Wong Hoi; Charlie Fung; Oliver Chan; Lung Kwok-yiu; and Terence Choi) who were nominated by CCIDA to participate in the festival's official programme (namely, "Producers Network"), and three representatives of the winning projects (director Tsang Tsui-shan of "Kowloon Grand Hotel"; producer Cho King-man of "Spirited Away"; and scriptwriter Li Ling-long of "Bus Lightyear") of the Content Development Scheme for Streaming Platforms by the FDC.

     In addition, Mr Mak and Dr Wong met with representatives of various international film institutions, festival organisers, and overseas distributors, including the French National Centre of Cinema, the Series Mania of France, the British Film Institute, as well as representatives of international film festivals of Busan, Locarno, Toronto and Venice, to strengthen ties between Hong Kong and overseas film industries.
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     CCIDA will continue to work closely with the industry to proactively expand into overseas markets and bring more outstanding Hong Kong films and creative talent to the international stage.

Ends/Sunday, May 17, 2026
Issued at HKT 19:15

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