Outtakes

Golden opportunity

Director Ann Hui On-wah's three-hour drama The Golden Era has been selected by the Federation of Motion Film Producers as Hong Kong's entry in the Academy Awards best foreign film category (note that it's merely been submitted as a candidate for a spot; it hasn't been officially nominated for an Oscar yet). The biopic stars actress Tang Wei as trailblazing writer Xiao Hong, who died at the age of 30 in Hong Kong in 1942. She has since been hailed as one of the most important authors in recent Chinese history. The film is set for an October 1 release.
 

For every two steps we take in building a diverse music festival scene, we seem to take a step back. Just a month after the Hong Kong leg of Taiwan's Spring Wave Music and Arts Festival was postponed indefinitely due to "political concerns", we have lost the North Sea Jazz Festival — which was set to debut here in November after three years of planning — owing to low ticket sales. The event was to feature local star Eugene Pao alongside international acts such as Jamie Cullum, Joss Stone and Sergio Mendes.
 

When the government refurbished colonial-era Police Married Quarters into an indie creative hub named PMQ, there were sceptics who wondered if its relatively hard-to-reach location — halfway up the steep Aberdeen Street on the quieter edge of SoHo, far from the nearest MTR station — would prove to too much. That hasn't been the case. With more than 100 creative minds setting up shop and a popular night market, PMQ is a real draw. The space is set to get livelier next week with Electriq, organised by the guys behind Clockenflap and dance music promoters Push. Electriq plans to organise regular music events, and they're kicking things off on October 4 with a gig headlined by Phil Hartnoll, from English electronic dance music duo Orbital. Tickets to Electriq's launch are available through Ticketflap.