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Hong Kong Film Development Council strives to promote Chinese language film market

To promote Hong Kong film directors of the new generation and explore opportunities for cooperation on film productions and investment, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Film Development Council (FDC), Mr Jack So, led a delegation of 20-odd members to visit Singapore and Malaysia last week.

“To make a breakthrough for our film industry, we would have to join hands with Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan and pool resources of the five places to develop the film industry of the region as a whole,” Mr So said.

“The market of Chinese language films can be expanded through cooperation in areas such as financing, production and distribution, etc,” he added.

The FDC rolled out the “HONG KONG FILM NEW ACTION” project last December to promote Hong Kong films and directors of the new generation. The latest visit joined by FDC members and film directors of the new generation followed the council’s trips to Guangdong Province and Taiwan last December to promote the project.

“Singapore and Malaysia have a Chinese population of over nine million in total. The region is an important market for us. Besides promoting Hong Kong films and the new generation directors, our meetings with the local film industry seek to establish a basis of cooperation in different aspects so as to explore more market opportunities,” Mr So said.

During their stay in Singapore, the delegation visited the Media Development Authority and various film industry associations. Both parties got an in-depth understanding of each other's market and mode of operation, paving the way for future mutual cooperation.

While in Kuala Lumpur, the delegation attended the opening ceremony of the film festival held by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Singapore apart from meeting with the local film industry there. A total of eight Hong Kong films of different genres, mainly produced by the film directors of the new generation, were screened during the festival to introduce to the cinema-goers of the area their films and re-ignite the interest in the films of Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, the FDC will stage large-scale business forums and promotional sessions to further promote the project during the “Hong Kong International Film & TV Market” (FILMART) event to be held in March 2009. The forums and promotional sessions will provide film practitioners from the Chinese language film markets of the aforesaid five places to engage in direct business negotiations with Hong Kong’s directors and filmmakers.