'We've been subtle about this in the past, but it has worked against us. Friends suggested we play up our share of premieres,' says Li.

'Festivals around the world are scrambling for premieres,' says executive director Peter Tsi Ka-kei. 'And, sadly, this is how people judge the calibre of a festival - by how many there are. When I negotiate with filmmakers about getting their film screened here as a premiere they ask what they're going to get from it. They want a premiere that will generate a lot of noise. If we want to get the directors and cast here they have difficulties catering for their entourage, which festivals in South Korea, Japan and even Shanghai can afford, but we can't.'

The one edge that Tsi and his colleagues can claim is the range of mainland films on show. It might have lost out to regional competitors during the past few years in terms of premieres of foreign movies, but the Hong Kong International Film Festival - with its long-running Chinese Renaissance section - has acted as a springboard for many Chinese directors. This year, it's showcasing Lu Yue's The Obscure, Yin Lichuan's The Case and Zhao Ye's Ma Wu Jia - each remarkable in its approach to storytelling.

But even that's under threat. Pusan International Film Festival, for example, has been seen increasingly as the showcase for mainland auteurs - it's regarded as the springboard for Jia Zhangke and his fellow so-called sixth generation filmmakers. A growing number of events in Shanghai are also giving Tsi's festival a run for its money.

Then there's the lure of European festivals. 'Mainland filmmakers don't necessarily have to showcase their work in Hong Kong these days,' says Tsi. 'Cannes or Berlin, for example, offer attractive options, particularly when they're offered slots in competition.'

Li Yu's Lost in Beijing and Wang Quan'an's Tuya's Marriage, for example, made their debuts in Berlin last month. The former was a particular slight, because part of its finances came from the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum last year.

Although established independent directors such as Li and Wang might want to present their work overseas, Tsi says Hong Kong still appeals to new filmmakers whose work may not stand out amid offerings from around the world. 'If they want their work to be shown at a festival with an Asian edge, they would come to us,' he says.

Tsi says the Hong Kong festival still has a cutting-edge, despite an increasing number of showbusiness-like events (such as the Asian Film Awards) and mainstream films (Stranger than Fiction, For Your Consideration and The Painted Veil). 'We're more ambitious in our programming [for art-house cinema],' he says. 'I think we're head and shoulders above our regional counterparts in this aspect. What we're always looking at is how we can contribute to the screening of world cinema.'

Apart from the usual Master Class and Global Vision sections, this year's festival offers a four-film showcase of little-known Portuguese director Pedro Costa, whose work focuses on the lives of downtrodden immigrants in Lisbon's ghettos. Add to that a retrospective of Italian avant-garde artist Paolo Gioli and Scottish filmmaker Norman McLaren, as well as a presentation of new work by young German and Romanian directors, and the festival is busy living up to Tsi's image as a treat for cinephiles with a taste for the alternative.

'Pedro Costa is an under-exposed filmmaker - and showcasing directors like him is the way we want to go,' says Tsi. 'People have been asking me why we aren't doing anything on Robert Altman [who died last year]. Well, he's famous enough, and you can get most of his films at a DVD store. It's the same with directors such as Stanley Kubrick.'