Lai Man-wai in a still from “Chuang Tzu Tests His Wife”, shot in 1913 or 1914 and considered the first true Hong Kong film but never shown in the then British colony. Lai was considered “the father of Hong Kong cinema” after founding the colony’s first film studio, China Sun, with his brother. Photo: Handout
Explainer |
The roots of Hong Kong cinema before Bruce Lee, from the first film – shot in 1909 – to the first film studio, and the Shaw brothers’ arrival
- Hong Kong had its first taste of film not long after the rest of the world but its cinematic heritage is lost: no films made before the second world war survive
- The first Chinese film was shot in the city in 1909, talent fleeing Shanghai sparked martial arts filmmaking, and rival studios led a 1950s filmmaking boom
Lai Man-wai in a still from “Chuang Tzu Tests His Wife”, shot in 1913 or 1914 and considered the first true Hong Kong film but never shown in the then British colony. Lai was considered “the father of Hong Kong cinema” after founding the colony’s first film studio, China Sun, with his brother. Photo: Handout
