By Rollo Ross
CANNES, France (Reuters) -Hong Kong’s once world-famous movie industry wants to bring back the heydays of the 1970s to the 1990s by investing in a new generation of directors, the chairman of the city’s film development council told Reuters at the Cannes Film Festival.
“We should not forget our identity. How the people all over the world would look at us when they recognise a Hong Kong movie,” said Wilfred Wong, chairman of the council that is mainly responsible for government funding of the industry.
Hong Kong cinema exploded in the 1970s with Bruce Lee’s martial arts films. Following his death, that mantle was taken up by Jackie Chan.
The industry expanded into other genres and became the darling of international film festivals with titles such as “In the Mood for Love,” “Infernal Affairs” and “Kung Fu Hustle.”
Stars like Andy Lau, Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung, and directors such as John Woo and Johnnie To, were frequently seen walking on the festival’s red carpet.
Hong Kong’s star started to fade in the 1990s when the former British colony was handed over to China, due to a variety of factors, including overproduction, the Asian financial crisis and talent leaving for Hollywood.
With a view to the shrinking industry, investors were unwilling to take a risk on young talent and would only approve productions with well-known stars and directors.
Hong Kong’s Film Development Council is now looking to address that by financially supporting new directors’ first film initiative.
The council has in recent years groomed 32 new directors, said Wong.
One of those new talents, director and actor Juno Mak, wrote and directed the Cannes out-of-competition film “Sons of the Neon Nights,” starring veteran actor Tony Leung Ka-fai.
“It’s kind of happiness, joy, enjoyable and satisfaction. So we can again show to all the audience and all the people in the world what Hong Kong productions are going on now,” Leung Ka-fai said.
The 67-year-old actor told Reuters that Hong Kong’s film industry was in need of new blood.
“We need new generations of directors, new generations of actors and actresses, new generations of script writers, new generations of every part that makes this dream,” he said.
(Reporting by Rollo Ross and Michaela Cabrera, Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Rod Nickel)
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