Smaller Hong Kong-made films may gain most from extra money allocated in John Tsang’s budget
Industry’s response to extra HK$20 million is lukewarm as questions remain over mainland’s stringent censorship of films
The additional public money in the latest government budget, allocated to promote Hong Kong-made Cantonese language films in southern China, is hoped to help smaller scale productions despite industry’s initial lukewarm reaction.
But how much the extra HK$20 million funding will boost Hong Kong films in the region remains a question mark as these films still face mainland’s stringent censorship before they can be distributed across the border.
In his latest budget, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah highlighted the importance of locally produced Cantonese films,saying they are “a key component of the local culture”.
He said Cantonese was a common language shared in southern China, particularly Guangdong and Hong Kong, and the 100 million population in the region generated box office receipts of 4 billion yuan (HK$4.76 billion) in 2014.
He allocated an additional HK$20 million to the Film Development Fund to subsidise the distribution and promotion of Hong Kong-made Cantonese films screening in this region, so that each film has an allowance of HK$500,000, doubling the previous amount.
The Film Development Council said it will strengthen the promotion of Hong Kong-made Cantonese speaking films in Guangdong, and a thematic event will be staged during Filmart, taking place from March 14 to 17 at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.
“We have been having such a discussion for a long time but the scheme isn’t running at full speed yet,” said Wellington Fung, secretary-general for the council.