Hong Kong film industry players seek to join forces with Guangdong counterparts
Push to tap into market in Pearl Delta Region comes weeks after finance chief John Tsang promises additional funding for home-made Cantonese-language movies in budget speech
Hong Kong film industry players are looking to join hands with their Guangdong peers in promoting home-made Cantonese-language films, weeks after the city’s financial secretary indicated in his budget that they would benefit from additional public funding.
The city’s film production sector has stepped up efforts to tap into the market in the Pearl Delta Region and take advantage of the ample resources across the border, said Wellington Fung, secretary-general of the Hong Kong Film Development Council.
Speaking at an event during the 20th edition of Filmart, where hundreds of companies from 35 countries and regions participate in the annual trading market for the film and television industries, Fung said home-made Cantonese films had their special appeal for a mainland Chinese audience who shared the same language with Hongkongers.
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The remarks were made weeks after Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah highlighted in his budget speech the importance of locally produced Cantonese films, describing them as “a key component of the local culture”.
Tsang pledged to channel HK$20 million to the Film Development Fund in order to support the distribution and promotion of locally made Cantonese films.
“Guangdong has one of the country’s biggest film markets, and there are a number of film studios of massive size in the province ready to serve Hong Kong filmmakers,”said Lin Xiping, president of the Guangdong Film Industry Association.
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“Despite differences in issues like political views, most people in Hong Kong and Guangdong are speaking the same language and appreciating a similar Cantonese culture,” Lin noted.
Mainland China is expected to overtake North America as the world’s largest film market as early as next year, after it raked in a record 6.87 billion yuan at the box office in February – US$250 million more than the North American market in the same month.
