Its rich heritage is unquestioned, but Hong Kong cinema faces uncertain future

Audiences’ shifting tastes, a scarcity of funds and a move to co-productions with mainland China mean it is tough to make truly local pictures. But some cineastes see signs of a better tomorrow

Reading Time:4 minutes

Leslie Cheung (right) and Maggie Cheung (left) on set of Wong Kar-wai's ‘Days of Being Wild’. Photo: Michael Tsui

Published: 3:15pm, 16 Dec 2017Updated: 6:23pm, 16 Dec 2017

Hong Kong’s film industry, which has been in slow decline since its 1980s heyday, has so far shown few signs of revival despite celebrated local auteur Wong Kar-wai winning the Lumière Award – an honour regarded as the film world’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize – in October.

Critically acclaimed, independent local films are still being released – think the political anthology Ten Years (2015) or last year’s Mad World , which sparked a citywide debate surrounding mental health – but on a much smaller scale than before.

With the rise of mainland co-productions, local films are slowly being edged out of major international film festivals. Gone are the days when Cannes Film Festival would modify its entire schedule around the late arrival of Wong’s latest offering, as it did in 2004 with his hotly anticipated romantic drama 2046.

Wong Kar-wai won the Lumière Award in October. Photo: AP

Instead, local filmmakers are increasingly falling into two polarised camps, according to Hong Kong film expert and writer Kevin Ma. On one camp are directors who stick to telling Hong Kong stories, and are nonetheless making waves in the Asian film world despite their shoestring budgets.

“They are more suited to telling smaller-scale narratives, and value their artistic vision,” Ma says.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x