Hong Kong Reception at the 60th Berlinale in Berlin 17 February 2010

Welcome Remarks by Stephen Kai Wong Director, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Affairs The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Achievements of Hong Kong films

For decades, Hong Kong is home to the third largest movie industry in the world.

The reason is simple. Hong Kong is a unique international city with a blend of Oriental and Western cultures and a place of creative talent. Together with the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Basic Law and close ties with the mainland of China, Hong Kong’s film industry has been growing vigorously.

Over the past few decades, Hong Kong actors, directors, cinematographers and producers have become household names at global level by producing a large number of high quality movies. At Berlinale, our excellent actress, Maggie Cheung, won the Best Actress Award in 1992 through her performance in Ruan Ling Yu (阮玲玉). In 1995, Josephine Siao won the Best Actress Award for her superb portrait of a middle-aged woman struggling to strike a balance between family life and work in Summer Snow (女人四十). Peter Kam, one of the leading film composers in Hong Kong, was awarded a Silver Bear for Best Film Music for Isabella (依莎貝拉) at the 2006 Berlinale.

Although the Hong Kong film industry started in the 1900s, its full scale development came in the 1950s when the industry became an important economic driver for Hong Kong. Hong Kong films not only flourished in Asia at that time, they were also well received worldwide.

In the past 10 years or so, Hong Kong movies and film talent have won over 300 international awards. In 2009, Hong Kong films and talents have won a total of 52 awards in 12 film festivals held in the Mainland and overseas. The international interest in Hong Kong films is also reflected in the moves by Hollywood to acquire rights to remake Hong Kong movies. The Oscar-winning film “The Departed” is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film “Infernal Affairs”; and “The Eye”, which was

1 released in 2008, is Hollywood’s version of the horror “Gin Gwai”.

The culture and creative industries

Hong Kong and Berlin have a few things in common. One of these is that both are a city of culture and creativity. Both of us are vibrant global cities with a wealth of theatres, concert halls, cinemas, and museums. Hong Kong’s cultural and creative industries are one of the six priority industries promoted by the Hong Kong SAR Government. As the film industry is the flagship of the creative industries, the Government is dedicated to building a favourable environment for the film industry to continue to flourish.

The Government has established a Film Services Office to promote Hong Kong films and support film productions, as well as to provide one-stop and free services to filmmakers who choose Hong Kong as a filming location.

We have allocated EUR 27 million to a Film Development Fund (FDF) to provide financial support for the production of small-to-medium budget films, and to finance projects which are beneficial to the long-term development of the film industry.

For the German film industry, there is a very useful option which you can consider when cooperating with Hong Kong film producers, i.e. CEPA, the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement. CEPA provides preferential treatment for Hong Kong films when entering the mainland of China. International film production companies can partner with, invest in or buy a Hong Kong-based company to enjoy the benefits of CEPA and capitalise on the experience of the Hong Kong film industry.

Joint productions between Hong Kong and the mainland of China have grown rapidly from about 10 titles per year before 2004 to about 30 titles a year at present. In 2009, seven out of the top ten box office films on the mainland were Hong Kong-Mainland co-productions. The Mainland-Hong Kong co-productions have enjoyed tremendous box office success. For example, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", a popular co-produced film, had a box office of US$45 million worldwide.

The sustained box office success of co-produced films has encouraged Hong Kong filmmakers to invest more in the China market. This experience is invaluable to overseas film companies keen to develop the China film market. I encourage you to look to Hong Kong as the gateway

2 to a successful China entry.

Alongside the close ties with the mainland of China, Hong Kong is an excellent location for filming because of its unique cityscape and rich East-meets-West cultural tradition. In 2007 and 2008, several films from Hollywood to Bollywood and across the globe made Hong Kong their filming location. They included “The Dark Knight” (USA), “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” (USA), “I Come with the Rain” (France), “Kentri” (Bollywood), and “Boys Over Flowers The Movie” (Japan). I hope we can soon welcome the German film industry to shoot their production in Hong Kong.

The four movies

At this year’s Berlinale, four very distinguish Hong Kong movies each representing a unique achievement of the Hong Kong film industry are screened, namely Echoes of the Rainbow, Amphetamine, True Legend and Little Big Soldiers.

On Valentine’s Day, which happens to be the first day of the year of the Tiger, we had the world premiere of Echoes of the Rainbow, a reminiscence of the life in the 1960s when Hong Kong was about to transform from an industrial city to a cosmopolitan. I must admit that I have a personal connection with this movie. Not only did I spend my adolescence in the 1960s, but I also went to the university over the same period with the producer, Mabel Cheung. Mable and Alex, the legendary duo in the Hong Kong film industry, created the classic in the 1980s, An Autumn's Tale (秋天的童話), which presented a romantic love story in the context of emigration from Hong Kong in this decade.

Two days ago, we had European and world premieres of True Legend and Amphetamine respectively. We are very proud to have the representatives of Amphetamine, Scud, the Director and Mr Lawrence Lau, Executive Director, with us today. The movie reflects the diversity of modern life in Hong Kong as well as how we evolve from the time of Echoes of the Rainbow to the age of globalisation. Sadly, the crew of Amphetamine will have to leave us earlier in order to attend the third screening of the movie at Alexander Platz. Scud and Lawrence, I wish you every success at this year’s Berlinale.

True Legend directed by Mr Yuen Woo Ping is the first 3D Chinese Kung-fu movie. If you are impressed by the fighting, actions, rhythm and beauty in the bodily movements of Matrix, you should know that the

3 action director of Matrix is Mr Yuen himself. And this first 3D Chinese Kung-fu movie is something you should look forward to.

And immediately after this reception, we will have the world premiere of Little Big Soldier, the latest production from superstar Jackie Chan. Jackie is no stranger to the city of Berlin. In fact, during his filming of Around the World in 80 Days in Berlin in 2003, he discovered the Buddy Bear, and that the message of solidarity, tolerance and understanding among nations embodied in the Buddy Bear should also be shared in Hong Kong. With his initiative, the Buddy Bears finally came to Hong Kong in 2004 and made a strong impression on the public of Hong Kong.

And he is also one of the pioneers in fusing comedy with Chinese Kung-fu, which later becomes one of the signature genres of Hong Kong movie.

As a whole, the four movies represent the latest achievements of the Hong Kong film industry in terms on the diversity of its subjects and sophistication of its technique.

Entertainment Expo

While we are celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Berlinale and the participation of four Hong Kong movies in this year’s Berlinale, I must also invite you to go to Hong Kong in March and April to take part in our Entertainment Expo which will take place between 22 March and 18 April. The Expo will cover nine events in total all of which will be of huge interest to the film industry in Germany and worldwide.

One of the nine events is the Hong Kong International Film and Television Market (FILMART). Renowned producers, distributors, investors and professionals from around the world use FILMART to launch promotions, network with key industry players and negotiate deals. The 2009 FILMART attracted 505 exhibitors and more than 4,500 visitors from 50 countries and regions.

FILMART 2010 will continue to be a one-stop marketplace. FILMART highlights allow buyers and industry professionals to tap into different aspects of the global entertainment market. Special events and seminars will spotlight the latest market developments and encourage information exchange and networking.

4 Another key event, the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), is one of the most important film-financing events in Asia. HAF brings together Asian filmmakers and their film projects with top film financiers, producers, investors, distributors and buyers. Last year, more than 20 projects were selected to participate in the three-day event, which was attended by about 1,000 filmmakers and financiers.

If you are not a film maker or producer, never mind. For movie fans, the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) will certainly give you a 2-week indulgence in this magical form of art. More than 200 movies from 50 countries will be screened in HKIFF during late March and early April. Last year’s film festival attracted more than 580,000 people from all over the world.

Last, but not least, Hong Kong Film Awards Presentation Ceremony (HKFA), one of Asia’s leading cinema celebrations, will honour 19 award categories on 18 April. The HKFA promotes Hong Kong film, recognises outstanding achievement and encourages industry excellence.

Concluding Remarks

This evening, we are very honoured that so many distinguished guests from the government, business, and film industry in Germany have joined us to celebrate the participation of Hong Kong movies in the 60th Berlinale.

In particular, I would like to thank the tremendous support given to the reception by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg whose Managing Director, Ms Kirsten Niehuus, is with us here this evening. I understand the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg has made cooperation with the Hong Kong film industry one of its strategic objectives. I am sure this evening’s reception has provided a very good base to launch this project.

I would also like to thank representatives of Echoes of the Rainbow, Amphetamine and Little Big Soldiers for gracing our reception, in particular –

Mr Alex Lo, Director of Echoes of the Rainbow; Ms Mabel Cheung, Producer of Echoes of the Rainbow; Scud, Director of Amphetamine; Mr Lawrence Lau, Executive Director of Amphetamine; Mr Ding Sheng, Director of Little Big Soldier; and Mr Jackie Chan, lead actor of Little Big Soldier.

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With an invaluable pool of film talent, rich experience in film production and a unique shooting style that fascinates worldwide audiences, we are confident that Hong Kong films will continue to set new standards in the years to come. Seeing the range and variety of films on display in this year’s Berlinale, I feel confident when I say that we welcome anyone who wants to share our dreams and enjoy our excitement: Hong Kong, Asia’s World City.

As this is also the beginning of the Chinese New Year of the Tiger, Kung Hei Fat Choy, meaning wishing you a good fortune.

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