Sounding disillusioned, Wong said his 'up-and-coming projects are co-productions with the mainland', instead of being made in Hong Kong.

That's the reality for hopeful Hong Kong filmmakers, who are looking longingly, but frustratingly, across the border to Guangdong province - a huge potential market for films in Cantonese, as opposed to those translated into Putonghua - and to the prospect of telling stories of southern Chinese culture for an audience far larger than Hong Kong's alone.

'Imagine, if your film can be shown in Guangdong and Hong Kong, the market will miraculously expand from 7 million to 100 million,' said Wellington Fung Wing, secretary general of the Hong Kong Film Development Council.

In 2004, the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement began allowing Hong Kong-made Chinese-language films to be imported to the mainland on a quota-free basis. Co-productions between Hong Kong and the mainland would be treated as mainland films, getting priority in the distribution network - and since then, Hong Kong-mainland co-productions that cater to the big mainland audience have been on the rise. In 2006 the agreement was expanded to allow Cantonese versions of Chinese-language films - either co-produced between Hong Kong and mainland film companies or solely produced by Hong Kong studios - to be distributed and screened in Guangdong. In other words, Hong Kong films could retain their original flavour - culturally and linguistically - when shown on the mainland.

It all sounded good. But in reality, the state-owned Film Import and Export Corporation, a subsidiary of the China Film Group, is the only one authorised to import foreign films, including Hong Kong movies, to the mainland. The company then submits them to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (Sarft) for the authorities' approval.

Under such a system, Hong Kong films must go through the same selection process and be screened by the same state agency that also decides whether to let mainland audiences see the latest Harry Potter opus or Avatar blockbuster, must-see movies obviously destined to make more money than even the best locally made film laced with Cantonese humour. 'Hong Kong imports have a low priority,' says Wong. 'They will first look after national films and co-productions.'

Fung said the result was 'a long queue of Hong Kong films waiting for release approval'.

For Hong Kong filmmakers, it's a difficult, tantalising situation - that a vast audience is so near and yet so far.

Guangdong is the most movie-hungry province. Last year, when the mainland's box office takings topped 10 billion yuan (HK$12 billion), Guangdong accounted for 1.6 billion yuan of that, outgrossing Beijing (1.2 billion yuan) and Shanghai (975 million yuan).

'Guangdong is a very open film market because the people there watch everything from foreign blockbusters to Putonghua-speaking mainland productions, as well as Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong films,' said Zhao Jun, general manager of the state-owned Guangdong Film Company.

Hong Kong films were in demand, Zhao said, because of their commercial nature, lively Cantonese dialogue, and, most importantly, their portrait of the southern Lingnan culture. 'Many Hong Kong films feature the Lingnan life and culture, which is not common in films produced on the mainland,' Zhao said.

'Guangdong audiences like this kind of film. Take Echoes of the Rainbow for example. It didn't do extremely well nationally, but in Guangdong, it grossed more than 10 million yuan.' The nostalgic look at a 1960s working-class Hong Kong family grossed a total HK$40 million in Hong Kong and on the mainland, with about HK$17 million of that coming from the mainland.

To capture that business, the Guangdong Film Company was set up last August to distribute Hong Kong films in Cantonese, promising the film's owners a 13 to 15 per cent share of the box office takings in Guangdong. But only a handful of movies, including the mid-size romantic drama Ex, have been released.

After a year, the company has not yet succeeded in realising a movie simultaneously in Hong Kong and Guangdong.

'A lot of filmmakers are still not familiar with this scheme, and many of them only plan for the Guangdong release after the project is completed,' said Brian Chung Wai-hung, chief executive of the Hong Kong Motion Picture Industry Association.

It was important to get synchronised releases going, Chung said. 'Not just because distributors can co-ordinate better promotional strategies in Hong Kong and Guangdong, but also to show the film before the DVDs come out, normally three months after the release of the film. A film that is already available on DVD will not do well.'

But the situation is probably beyond the control of the Guangdong Film Company, Chung said. 'After all, it's China Film Group and Sarft calling the shots, and they will take their time to do the work.'

Cantonese may no longer be a barrier, but Sarft still imposes censorship. Certain subjects simply cannot be discussed in a film, Wong said. For co-productions, the version shown in Hong Kong and on the mainland has to be the same. But for import, filmmakers can edit another version for the mainland market.

'You still have to make adjustments to get into China,' Wong says. 'For example, stories about religion, superstition and extreme violence and explicit sexual content will never make it across the border.'

Even with the support of the Guangdong Film Company, and even if the story gets past the censor, said Chung, Hong Kong films dressed up with Cantonese culture might not get released. 'If the film doesn't sell, even the Guangdong company won't want it. They don't want to lose money because they are paying for the promotion and distribution fees,' Chung said.

The safer and more profitable option was co-production with a mainland company, Chung said.

'It's not worth going national with small productions as the cost of promotion and distribution can be somewhere between 3 million to 4 million yuan. But for co-production, mostly with big budgets, half of the cost is borne by the mainland company, which also takes care of national distribution.'

However, the Hong Kong Film Development Council is pushing for Guangdong-only releases, which would benefit film projects under the Film Development Fund. Since July 2007, when the government injected HK$300 million into the fund to finance small to mid-size films costing no more than HK$15 million, the council has given the green light to 14 projects with a total funding of HK$41 million. Nine have been released, six of them on the mainland.

Fung said the council had been fighting for synchronised releases in Hong Kong and Guangdong.

'Filmmakers should begin working with the Guangdong Film Company when production commences, and the Guangdong Film Company can help with getting approval granted as soon as possible,' Fung said. 'Sarft has already pledged to grant screening approval within one month after submission. We are confident this new scheme will work.'

Guangdong Film's Zhao agreed. 'We hope filmmakers can come to us earlier.'

Fung said the scheme was still in an early phase but he hoped to eventually be able to release Cantonese versions of Hong Kong-made films in other neighbouring provinces. But Chung said that would not be enough to keep Hong Kong's film industry alive. The most important thing, he said, was to keep productions here.

'Can the council make sure that a certain portion of a film funded by the Film Development Fund is shot in Hong Kong?' Chung said. 'Now all the jobs are on the mainland. Hong Kong filmmakers have gone north of the border to train young talent. The council should think of ways that can really benefit Hong Kong.'

But the Guangdong release scheme does excite new filmmakers. Veteran comedian Jim Chim Sui-man, who made his directorial debut co-directing the comedy MicroSex Office with Lee Kung-lok, said he was planning a couple of co-productions with mainland companies, and a Hong Kong-made Cantonese comedy he hoped could be imported into Guangdong in its original form.

'This is a new way out for Hong Kong films,' said Chim, 'and for up-and-coming filmmakers like me'.

54

The number of films made in Hong Kong in the dark days of 2003 amid the Sars virus. Film production was shut down for four months