HK honours its own 'father of cinema'
Had the 'Father of Hong Kong Cinema' Lai Man-wai not saved up his lunch money to buy his first camera almost a century ago, our film industry would have been very different today.
The life of this former Queen's College and St Paul's College student is currently part of a series organised by the Hong Kong Film Archive and the Chung Ying Theatre to commemorate Lai's 110th birthday from September to November.
There are many more interesting things you can learn about Lai (1893-1953), best known as a cinematographer, director, producer and writer since the early 1920s.
He was one of China's first people to spearhead film production with his own money, nurturing film talents, setting up the first film theatre with Chinese capital and shooting the first feature-length Hong Kong film, Rouge.
A street in Tin Hau was named Ngan Mok (Screen Street) because Lai had set up the Minxin Motion Picture company there.
Archive film programmer Law Kar said Lai had also made huge contributions to China's film industry, and some people had referred to him as the 'Father of Chinese Cinema'.
'Lai was the pioneer of China's film industry and established the Lianhua Studio in Shanghai. He was so dedicated to films that he would even sell his own properties to finance film production. He was one of the first who brought his crew to various parts of China for getting location shots,' Mr Law said.
He added that they were only able to recover and show four pieces of work by Lai. One of them would be a documentary showing Dr Sun Yat-sen leading the Chinese revolution. Another documentary called Lai Man-wai: Father of Hong Kong Cinema would be shown to illustrate Lai's life through archival footage and interviews.
The Chung Ying Theatre would also stage a performances entitled Action! Mr Lai, with details taken from Lai's diaries. The theatre's artistic director, Ko Tin-lung, said Lai had played an important role in promoting drama because he founded the Qingpingle Theatre Troupe, a pioneers at the time.
Lai's sixth son, Lai Shek, said he never expected such a large series of events would be held this year.
'I hope people can learn more about history through my father's life, as he had gone through different eras, from the Qing dynasty to the civil war and the establishment of the Republic of China,' he said.
The Hong Kong Film Archive programme In the Footsteps of Lai Man-wai has now kicked off. Chung Ying Theatre's Action, Mr Lai! will be shown from October 31.
