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Vivienne Chow

Two Hong Kong directors whose movies will open and close the Venice International Film Festival will receive a government grant to promote their works at the event, which starts on Wednesday.

Tsui Hark, director of martial arts epic Seven Swords,  and Peter Chan Ho-sun's musical Perhaps Love will together receive about $500,000 from the Arts Development Fund, a Home Affairs Bureau spokesman said. Seven Swords will open the festival and Perhaps Love will be shown at the end.

The spokesman said that in the past, the Film Development Fund had subsidised the promotion of Hong Kong movies participating at international festivals.

'But since the Film Development Fund [was wound up last year], under such special circumstances, we especially arranged the Arts Development Fund for these two projects,' said the spokesman.

The 62nd Venice International Film Festival is one of the world's prestigious festivals  alongside the Cannes and Berlin events. It will be the first time that Hong Kong  films will open and close a film festival of this scale.

Apart from the Hark and Chan movies, the festival will feature two other films by Hong Kong directors.

Stanley Kwan Kam-pang's drama Everlasting Regret, starring Sammi Cheng Sau-man, will represent Hong Kong in the festival's top award, the Golden Lion. Initial D by Andrew Lau Wai-keung and Alan Mak Siu-fai, a screen adaptation of a hit Japanese comic of the same name, will be screened in the out-of-competition section.

At a reception held yesterday to celebrate Hong Kong's role in the festival, Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen said it had high historical significance.

'This is the first time we have films by Hong Kong directors opening and closing one of the major film festivals in Europe. The world has recognised Hong Kong film professionals' hard work,' Mr Tang said. 'These four films to be shown  ... are co-productions between Hong Kong and the mainland. This shows that such co-operation in  technique, capital and talent helps improve the competitiveness of Hong Kong films.'

John Chong Ching - of Media Asia Entertainment Group, which produced Initial D - said: 'Two months ago, nobody knew there would be four films by Hong Kong directors shown at Venice ... It's very good  the government could react to this phenomenon within such a short time.'



Boost for HK filmmakers at Venice festival