Last August, Zhang Zhifeng was accepted by Beijing University as a biology major. The friends and family of the young graduate of the First Secondary School in Hebei province were justifiably proud of him. But there was a problem: although the Chinese Government pays university tuition fees in full, Zhang still had to find 3,000 yuan (HK$2,790) for living expenses. To Zhang, it was a fortune. To show their love for Zhang, his whole family went to extraordinary efforts to find the money for his tuition. Zhang's story was documented in a film made by students of the Beijing Broadcasting University. The film will be shown in the China, Taiwan and Hong Kong Student Film and Video Festival which is jointly organised by film students of the Baptist University and the Arts Centre. For the first time in the film history of Hong Kong, a student club has organised a public film festival of films made by students in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. The Young Director (TYD) cinema and television workshop at Baptist University will be showing 16 films today and Sunday at the Arts Centre. TYD is made up of budding film directors and producers at the university's School of Communications. 'Our workshop has a lot of activities, like film screenings, but they are just for ourselves and we rarely have the chance to direct our activities to the people outside. This film festival is a good opportunity,' said student Angel Shing On-ki. 'In organising the festival, we have more opportunities to exchange our ideas about films with students in other places. Before, we didn't know what their productions were like.' TYD has been preparing for this occasion for six months. 'We students have never organised such a large-scale festival. In 1988, there had been a festival showing films from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China but it was organised by lecturers,' said Karrie Lam Kit-yan. 'We chose films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan because we are all Chinese. The communications problem is not so great.' Film lecturers at the Baptist University helped TYD liaise with the film students in the three locations. 'We sent letters to their film departments and called them directly. We encouraged them to participate in our film festival and screenings. 'This January we went to Beijing and visited the Beijing Broadcasting University and got to know the film students there,' Lam said. At the beginning, prospective participants in the festival sent TYD copies of their films. In the selection process, the films were screened by a panel of three judges. One of them is Jimmy Choi Kam-chuen, the director of the film and video department of the Arts Centre which works closely with TYD during the academic year. 'In choosing the films, I tried not to let my own feelings cloud my judgment over the quality of the films. 'Inevitably, you'd come across a film that appeals to you, but being a judge you have to be objective. You have to be careful whether it is the theme that attracts you, which is being subjective, or the quality of the work itself, which is objective,' Mr Choi said. The 16 films include one from Beijing, four from Taiwan and 11 from Hong Kong. Seven of the 11 films from Hong Kong are computer animations produced by students of the Polytechnic University. The other three were made by Baptist University and the last is a Hong Kong Film Director Guild's production. All the film directors, producers and editors are students from different schools. 'In one of the films - Scaffold (Back) to the Lift, we experimented with image and sound. The film was made to commemorate director Louis Malle. 'Another film deals with the character's feelings about 1997. They are two experimental films produced by our department,' said Grace Hui Suk-yin. One of the Taiwanese films is an experimental drama about sex. Film-makers of the short-listed films will be invited to the screening. During the film festival, Baptist University will hand out certificates to the film-makers to encourage them to participate even more in the future. However, Lam modestly urges the audience not to have high expectations. 'It is the first film festival organised by students. We're under-resourced, and we lack experience. 'Whether it succeeds or not, it is a good experience for us. We hope the audience will appreciate our efforts. I hope they will admire our motivation rather than our achievement,' Lam said. Seven films will be screened today and nine on Sunday at the Arts Centre. Tickets are free and can be obtained by calling Ms Fung 7112-8162 A/C 1131
