The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) said an apology had been sent to Yoji Yamada after organisers were blamed for mishandling the Japanese filmmaker's festival curtain-raiser and embarrassing Hong Kong on the international film scene.
The festival was accused of bungling the soundtrack of the opening-night film Kabei - Our Mother. Near the end of the screening, the soundtrack was interrupted by a bilingual announcement telling guests about a VIP cocktail party after the screening, on March 18 at the Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Yamada was in Hong Kong to attend the opening ceremony and to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Asian Film Awards on March 17, organised by the HKIFF Society.
The incident angered the audience attending the opening-night screening, including film director Shu Kei.
'I was very angry and I was the first one among the audience to yell out, 'Shut up'. Then many people followed me after the announcement kept on playing for about 30 seconds,' he said.
'The film was not entirely over at that time. Even though the end credits began to roll up on the right-hand side of the big screen, the film was still going on the left-hand side of the screen,' Shu said. 'It was a very crucial moment for the film because it was very emotional.'
Shu said he complained to the festival's management, suggesting a rerun of the film for those who attended that screening. 'They only said they will investigate the incident. I really hope they can do something.'
