IT STARTED WITH a meeting of minds on April 22, when Hong Kong was in the grip of Sars and the government was looking for ways to lift peoples' spirits. The idea was as simple as it seemed inspired: gather together our greatest film minds and give them the necessary funds to document, in short-film form, their impressions of life in the city at the time.
After a meeting between the government and the Federation of Hong Kong Film Workers, 12 filmmakers put up their hands - among them Stephen Chiau Sing-chi, Johnny To Kei-fung, Peter Chan Ho-sun and Mable Cheung Yuen-ting. Each was given about $500,000 by the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority. And each went to work.
'The meeting was not really about this project, it was about whether or not the industry needed help,' says Peter Chan. 'Did we need loans? It was at a time when people weren't going to the theatres. Somebody at that meeting suggested we receive subsidies to make a series of short films, to keep people in work. But I disagreed on that point because I think we are right in the middle of another boom, because of China, since the beginning of the year. The relaxing of rules for co-productions has opened up China to us and with the success of Hero, rights to videos for Hong Kong film have skyrocketed tenfold. All of a sudden China has become a serious market for Hong Kong films.
'This year we were slowed by Sars, but it has not really had a serious impact on the amount of work we are doing. The impact, as with the majority of people in Hong Kong, has been psychological. And so the impact I thought we could make, as directors, is to send a positive message to the people.'
In the end 11 short films were produced. Wong Kar-wai, one of the original 12, dropped out due to pressing deadlines on his other projects (among them the never-ending story that is 2046). But not before he had given the project its name, 1:99 - a reference to the ratio of one part bleach to 99 parts water for disinfecting Hong Kong. Thanks to government sponsorship, the shorts have been screening regularly for the past month on local television and in cinemas. And now they are available as a package on VCD and DVD.
'It wasn't difficult to round up the people,' says Chan. 'Even those who are not your typical 'meeting' people - like Johnnie To and Tsui Hark - wanted to chip in. It became a media thing: which director is going to shoot which stars and all that. And Wong Kar-wai's title suggestion was inspired as, like the 1:99 formula, it's all about doing things for yourself, about getting on with life. That has resulted in a very personal, and very Hong Kong, selection of shorts.'
