Cinema at risk from 'mainland meddlers'
China's heavy-handed approach to Hong Kong film-makers could kill off the industry in its battle against Hollywood, a leading director said yesterday.
Ng See Yuen said the China audience was essential if Hong Kong's industry was to survive.
The business is now so desperate for cash that it is peddling the full distribution rights to its movies in Russia and the former Yugoslavia for as little as $10,000.
But China insists on meddling - including a refusal to allow footage out of the country for editing and production, he said.
Speaking at a preview of the Hong Kong Film Archive's exhibition on 50 years of film, Ng said the situation made competition against Hollywood all but impossible.
He had met mainland Government officials to seek a lifting of filming restrictions and distribution rights within China after June 30, as well as the ability to take footage out and create different versions of films for the rest of the world.
'Some dialogue isn't suitable for China, but it doesn't mean it's not suitable for overseas,' said Ng.
He called China 'Hong Kong film's future' yet pointed to the film Sung Sisters - starring Maggie Cheung Man-yuk - as an example of censorship causing problems during shooting.
'We can only develop, process and film in China, so we may have some shorts for a computer effect that we can't do in China - but we're not allowed to take the footage out to work on it,' he said.
'It's unreasonable and technically impossible.' Yesterday's preview comes as the industry ponders its role as the world's third biggest film producer after Hollywood and Bombay.
