Last month’s Udine Festival for All Things East Asia served as the launching pad for “Making Waves – Hong Kong Cinema Navigators,” a group of 13 films that will travel to twelve cities in Europe and Asia. Described as “splendor,” the event mixes old and new talent, and is linked to celebrations of the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China after 150 years of British colonial rule.
But it is no longer clear to everyone that Hong Kong cinema has the energy, will or funding to stand up to its greatest demons. Its problems range from the long-term drift of talent from Hong Kong to mainland Chinese industry to censorship and marginalization.
The past year began with Hong Kong cinemas coming under pressure from pro-Beijing media to change their releases, and raids on specials. This was followed by a revised law that censors films based on national security concerns (such as terrorism, separatism, and vandalism) and threatens to accelerate the “transition to the mainland” of Hong Kong’s film industry.
Hong Kong hasn’t reached that point yet – mainland film regulators have rules about superstition, gang activity, drugs and how all bad guys should be shown as a consequence that doesn’t yet apply in Hong Kong – but years of co-production between mainland Chinese companies and creators in Hong Kong Kong Biske is a succession of films directed primarily at mainland Chinese tastes.
Some co-productions have successfully overlapped the two markets – including “Shock Wave 2” and “Raging Fire” – but major Hong Kong directors like Dante Lam, Tsui Hark, Peter Lam and Derek Kwok these days work mostly north of Hong Kong frontier-making films such as “The Battle at Lake Changjin” and “Leap” that comply with the principles set by the government.
These titles are “less in tune with the tastes of Hong Kong movie-goers, especially as audiences become increasingly insistent on local identity and culture,” says Udine-based Hong Kong programmer Tim Youngs.
Several titles that may interest audiences in Hong Kong – a plethora of pro-democracy documentaries, including “Revolution of Our Time”, “Inside the Red Brick Wall”, “I Wish You Stay Young Forever” and “Blue Planet”, which played At overseas festivals – it is understood to be outlaw and unlikely to be shown in Hong Kong at all.
Filmmakers still scrambling to get a stage show in Hong Kong face more difficult issues of tight budgets and inconvenience.
“Is there even a market for Hong Kong films?” asks Albert Lee, former studio head of Emperor Motion Pictures and now director of Hong Kong Intl. Film Festival. While well-known filmmakers do not work in Hong Kong, young filmmakers make films that do not travel at all. Where are the second movies? Where is career development? It seems that many do not look outside. Unlike Southeast Asia, we don’t have Anthony Chen or Jeremy Chua at the moment.”
To make matters worse, the city’s already weak film industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus-related movie closures in 2020 and 2021, and the city’s semi-tight border government policies.
The number of domestic releases rebounded to 44 last year, up from 36 in 2020. But it lagged behind 2019, and theaters closed from early January to late April again this year.
Production volumes are difficult to pin down precisely, but the number of new shows in Cannes by Hong Kong-based sales firms is small, reflecting wait-and-see policies by major studios Edko, Emperor Motion Pictures and Media Asia.
However, it would be too early to write off a city that has recovered from previous setbacks.
Notable Hong Kong indie films from the past 12 months include Jun Li’s “Drifting,” a drama about homelessness; Chan Kin Long’s low-budget drama “Hand Rolled Cigarette” and Chiu Sin-hang’s sports drama “One Second Champion”.
The cinematic mainstream even got a shot in the arm, with several members of the sensational Canto-Pop boy band quickly transitioning to a movie.
says Eddie Cheung, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Special Representative to the European Union, who spearheaded the wave-making programme.
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