Press Releases
SHWF officiated at Hong Kong Film Night in Antwerp
The Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, took the opportunity
to officiate at a special Hong Kong Film Night at the Antwerp Film Museum on May
19 (Antwerp time) during a stopover in Belgium as part of a five-day official
visit to Europe.
The Hong Kong Film Night was held to coincide with the Hong Kong Film Panorama
2005 festival which was launched in Hamburg, Germany, in April. Belgium is the
second city to screen the selection of 14 Hong Kong films. The films are being
shown until the end of this month at the Film Museums in both Brussels and
Antwerp. The Hong Kong Film Panorama will then continue its European tour,
visiting another 10 cities throughout the year.
Organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Brussels, with the help of
the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, the Hong Kong Film Panorama
2005 follows a similar, successful film tour of Europe last year.
The Hong Kong Film Panorama selection includes some of the most recent Hong Kong
productions: Gordon Chan's "A1 Headline", Cheang Pou-soi's "Love Battlefield",
Pan Ho Cheung's "Beyond Our Ken", Yan Yan Mak's "Butterfly", Oxide Pang's "Ab-normal
Beauty", Barbara Wong's "Six Strong Guys", Derek Yee's "One Nite in Mongkok",
Toe Yuen's "McDull, Prince de la Bun" - and a few of Hong Kong's greatest
classics: Mabel Cheung's "An Autumn's Tale", Tsui Hark's "Once Upon a Time in
China I and II", Stanley Kwan's "Rouge", Ricky Lau's "Mr Vampire", and Kirk
Wong's "Crime Story".
The Honorary Chairman of the Belgium-Hong Kong Society, Mr Manfred Loeb, said
that Hong Kong remained a major film production centre, releasing 64 local films
in 2004. The Government is playing its part to encourage the development of its
film industry. It is making it easier to shoot films in Hong Kong and is
promoting the city as a film centre location, with the facilities, expertise and
support for every movie occasion. It has established a Film Guarantee Fund to
help the development of a film financing infrastructure. A major film event, the
Entertainment Expo, has just taken place in Hong Kong, bringing together under
one roof all of Hong Kong's principal entertainment events, including the Hong
Kong International Film Festival.
But above all, Mr Loeb said, the industry was growing on the strength of Hong
Kong's creative talents. In 2003 alone, Hong Kong films won 36 awards at 14
major international film festivals. He also noted that Johnnie To's thriller
"Election" was part of the official selection of the current Cannes Film
Festival.
Ends/Friday, May 20, 2005
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