Hong Kong’s fine exposition

The fourth Entertainment Expo Hong Kong, the Special Administrative Region’s (SAR) month-long annual media extravaganza closed with a flourish on April 13, 2008 with the presentation of the Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA) at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre to honour the works of Hong Kong’s film industry.

Graced by a bevy of local and regional stars, HKFA saw Peter Chan’s 19th century Chinese epic The Warlords clinch a total of eight kudos including Best Film and Best Director prizes, along with Best Actor which was picked up by martial arts actor Jet Li, as well as Best Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume-Makeup-Design, Sound Design and Visual Effects awards. Kudos including Best Editing and Best Supporting Actor went to Protégé and veteran actor Andy Lau for his part in the crime thriller. Best Asian Film was won by Ang Lee’s controversial pre-World War 2 erotic thriller Lust, Caution.

HKFA provided the dash of glamour that was fitting to draw the curtains on the series of nine engaging trade and consumer events that spotlighted the Hong Kong and regional media industry, starting with Asia’s key film and TV market, Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART) that opened Entertainment Expo Hong Kong on March 17, 2008.

Attracting a record 4,200 industry professionals, Hong Kong FILMART, in its 12 year, played host to some 60 events including seminars, press conferences, cocktail receptions and premieres during the four-day trade fair at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).

On the buying end, overseas visitors to Hong Kong FILMART hiked 7.4 per cent to 2,079, making up almost half of the total number of attendees, with most buyers hailing from China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, US, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and France. Visitors from Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand registered double-digit growth while delegates from Cambodia, Columbia, Croatia, the Kiribati Republic and Myanmar attended the event for the first time.

The selling end saw Hong Kong FILMART host 483 exhibitors from 30 territories, including first-time exhibitors Czech Republic and Sweden, along with Indonesia and Israel group pavilions. Returning group pavilions included Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, China, and Canada, as well as Hong Kong majors Mei Ah Entertainment, Media Asia, Emperor Motion Pictures, TVBI and ATV.

Running in conjunction with the film and TV market was a series of conferences exploring digital distribution, Asian co-productions, the burgeoning Guangdong film market, and the film merchandising business in the new media landscape.

On the subject of ‘Co-Productions: The Road Forward for Asia? - The Promise and the Problems of International Film Financing’, Buddy Marini, managing director of Avex Asia, one of multiple financiers from across Asia and distributor of John Woo’s Red Cliff said, “We do believe in the potential in Asia, but we’re really thinking about the potential globally. We believe in an integrated Asian market.” Marini noted that in Asia, formal co-production agreements are increasingly signed by governments and national film bodies, and productions benefit from multiple subsidy funds and enhanced release conditions should they qualify as ‘local’ in more than one territory.

Wellington Fung, secretary-general of the Hong Kong Film Development Council, said the council provides up to 30 percent funding for co-productions to make Hong Kong an attractive co-production destination. “The government rarely invests in something commercial. The whole intention of this scheme is to encourage what we call ‘the independents,’” Fung noted. Stephen Clark, general manager of RGM, however, cautioned against co-productions due to the multitude of factors to be considered. “Everything is a compromise, and you have to be aware of these issues. Unless you start organically, it can be limiting. The story would have to be altered to fit the location and cultural sensitivity,” he said.

The exhibition floor saw a slew of publicity and marketing events from the region’s major players. March 17, the second day of Hong Kong FILMART, saw the press presentation of The Weinstein Company’s martial arts flick The Forbidden Kingdom with the cast including Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Liu Yifei and Li Bingbing in attendance, along with director Rob Minkoff and producers.

Also generating much hype was Universe Entertainment’s market debut of Danny and Oxide Pang’s Storm Riders 2 which had returning stars Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng grace the event. Star Donnie Yen took the limelight in the publicity event for Gordon Chan’s supernatural thriller Painted Skin, while Sundream Motion Pictures presented its new production slate and output plans with The Weinstein Company.

Other major announcements at Hong Kong FILMART include a Memorandum of Understanding between Malaysia’s Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) and Lazio’s Finanziaria laziale di sviluppo (FILAS) to promote bilateral development of creative industries in both territories and new business opportunities in Asia, as well as co-production and content deals in access of RM40 million (US$13.5 million), signed by Malaysian firms including Cartoon4Kids, Marcera Technology, Film Point and FrameMotion Studio.

In addition, Beijing-based JA Media closed a raft of sales for Tsui Hark’s romantic comedy She Ain’t Mean to Singapore’s Scorpio East, Malaysia’s GSC, Hong Kong’s Intercontinental, China’s Polybona in China, Taiwan’s Serenity, and Celestial for pay-TV in Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. Also, Hong Kong-based production house Big Media launched a US$32 million slate of 12-15 projects in Mandarin and Cantonese for 2008 including Jingle Ma’s Butterfly Lovers starring Charlene Choi and Wu Chun in a new adaptation of the folk tale; Marriage With a Fool II, sequel to the 2006 show featuring Alex Fong; Turandot by Ching Siu-tong; Wilson Yip’s The Kung Fu Couple; and Vincent Kok’s V for Vampire starring Sammo Hung and Ronald Cheng.

As with Entertainment Expo Hong Kong 2008’s glitzy conclusion, the media extravaganza was officially opened on the evening of March 17 at HKCEC to much fanfare and glamour in the gala curtain raiser that was the second edition of the Asian Film Awards (AFA). Henry Tsang, acting chief executive of Hong Kong SAR, Jack So, chairman of Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Hong Kong Film Development Council, as well as veteran actor and Hong Kong Entertainment Ambassador Tony Leung Chiu Wai officiated the kudos event.

Leading up to the ceremony was the red carpet event which featured a series of local and regional artistes and filmmakers including Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Vivian Hsu, Jet Li, Shu Qi, Song Hye Gyo, Tsai Ming Liang, Jaycee Chan and Shawn Yue.

Korean film Secret Sunshine by Lee Chang Dong swept top AFA kudos including Best Director and Actress, as well as ousted blockbusters Lee Ang’s Lust, Caution and Peter Chan’s The Warlords to take home Best Film. Korean actress Jeon Do Hyeon took the best actress award for her role as a lady who copes with the death of her husband and child. Local favourite Leung won what was his 14th Best Actor honour in his career for his role as a collaborateur with the Japanese in pre-World War 2 China in Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution. Special prizes Lifetime Achievement Award and the Edward Yang New Talent Award went to Japanese directors Yoji Yamada and Ishii Yuya respectively.

Entertainment Expo Hong Kong 2008 also saw more money given out to local and regional filmmakers in its annual Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), organised by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS), and co-organised by HKTDC and the Hong Kong, Kowloon & New Territories Motion Picture Industry Association (MPIA). Linking Asian filmmakers with upcoming film projects to international film financiers, producers, bankers, distributors, and buyers for co-production ventures, the event also handed out a total of US$75,000 cash and in-kind prizes, with approximately US$40,000 in cash from HAF and the Rome Film Festival, and US$35,000 in-kind from Technicolor Thailand Ltd to outstanding projects.

Hong Kong director Pang Ho Cheung and Ning Hao from the Chinese mainland won the US$13,000 HAF Awards for their film projects The Bus and 7 Dreams respectively, while the Rome Film Festival Awards of US$15,000 went to Tang Xiru, also from the Chinese mainland, as Hong Kong’s Carol Lai Miu Suet and Thailand’s Nonzee Nimibutr took the Technicolor Thailand Awards. Winners were chosen from 25 shortlisted projects from the host of submissions from some 900 participants including Japanese director Nakata Hideo of The Ring fame.

HAF Reading Committee member Dr. Philip Lee, associate producer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Batman - The Dark Knight, who was involved in the selection process noted, “We have some very good projects this year; particularly those from Japan and Korea. I think they are viable projects with great stories.”

Wouter Barendrecht, co-chairman of Fortissimo Film Sales, enthused, “The projects submitted to HAF 2008 were of an extremely high standard and we had to reject a number of very high quality projects unfortunately. The selection is very exciting and a great balance of newcomers and more established filmmakers from all over the region. If this sets the tone for the films to come in 2008/2009, Asian cinema is flourishing.”