More government cash will be pumped into Hong Kong’s film industry to help it break into international markets and promote the city’s culture overseas, the finance chief has said.
Paul Chan Mo-po wrote in his weekly blog on Sunday that films were an important part of the city’s cultural life, and the industry could be used to highlight Hong Kong’s unique characteristics to a global audience.
Chan singled out the box office hit Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, which won a 10-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival last month.
“[This] shows that the cultural messages contained in the film can arouse recognition and resonance across time, space, and regions,” the financial secretary wrote.
He added the government had helped to support the industry through the Film Development Fund.
Chan said the fund had contributed to the funding of 100 films over the last two decades and helped more than 100 emerging directors and producers to realise their screen dreams.
He added films made with government help had won more than 160 Hong Kong and international awards over the years.
“New funding schemes launched in the past two years included helping local filmmakers and producers to explore the mainland Chinese market, and step up exchanges with industry players in Europe and Asia,” Chan said.
“The government has also proactively led delegations to participate in world-renowned film festivals like Cannes, Berlin and Venice.
“In the future, we will also actively take part in international film festivals held in Toronto, Busan and Tokyo, hoping to help local films enter more overseas markets and also let more international audiences watch Hong Kong productions.”
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said in last October’s policy address that the city would inject HK$1.4 billion into the fund for films.
Chan added on Sunday that the government had also invested considerable resources in sport, from five-a-side football pitches to the Kai Tak Sports Park, the city’s biggest sports construction project, which is expected to open next year.
He said the development should bring business opportunities to the retail, catering and tourism-related sectors, as well as attract major international sports and cultural events to Hong Kong.
Chan also posted a video of him playing football at the weekend with a group of fathers and sons to mark Father’s Day on Sunday.
He said the rain had offered a good opportunity for them to play in cooler conditions.
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In is set in the 1980s inside the now-demolished Kowloon Walled City. Based on the Chinese comic City of Darkness, the martial art crime action film is the second-highest grossing domestic film in the city, following A Guilty Conscience last year.
Chan also noted that the two productions were the first local films in the history of the Hong Kong cinema to have a box office of more than HK$100 million.
“The movie box office reflects the public’s recognition of Hong Kong films,” Chan said.
