Hong Kong cinema is still alive. That may not seem like big news to many, but as someone who's been told for more than a decade now that the local film industry is dying, the very fact of its continued existence is cause for celebration. Admittedly, last year was not a stupendous one for Hong Kong movies. After all, there was no local equivalent to at the box office and no major international film festival triumph, as was the case with at Venice in 2012. Also, the days of more than 100 local films - never mind 300 plus - being released in a single year do appear to be long gone.
However, there were certain developments I hope will carry forward into this year. One of these is a return to making films with local - as opposed to a generic or pan-Chinese - content and themes, and with local viewers as the primary target audience. For while the likes of Patrick Kong Pak-leung ( ; ) have prioritised the Hong Kong audience, others have tended to look more to the mainland and beyond. So it was good to see Johnnie To Kei-fung offer up the Hong Kong-set , as well as the mainland-set , last year.
Anthony Wong in Ip Man: The Final Fight may be my favourite portrayal of the wing chun master
Another trend I hope will continue is for new faces to be given a chance to show what they can do behind and in front of the camera. Last year saw noteworthy debuts from Charlie Yeung Choi-nei ( ), Juno Mak Chun-lung ( ), Flora Lau Wan-man ( ) and Ho Hong ( ), while in we had Cherry Ngan Cheuk-ling and Babyjohn Choi Hon-yik in their first starring roles.
Of course, this should not be taken to mean that the older folks have had their day and should quit the scene. I found to be Tsui Hark's most enjoyable film in years, and Anthony Wong Chau-sang's performance as the eponymous character in may be my favourite portrayal of the wing chun master.
Among the films due out this year that I'm most looking forward to are works by senior filmmakers Ann Hui On-wah and Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting. I also hope there will be a strong female voice in Hong Kong cinema to match up to Benny Chan Muk-sing ( ) and Dante Lam Chiu-yin ( .