Film series kicks off Hong Kong Comes to Chicago 2009 Festival
 |
Director of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, New York Monica Chen speaks at the May 1 premiere screening of “A Decade of Love” in Chicago at the Gene Siskel Film Center. The screening kicked off the “Hong Kong Cinema: The Next Generation” film series. |
Hong Kong film director Chan Wing-Chiu attended the premiere screening of “A Decade of Love” in Chicago at the Gene Siskel Film Center on May 1, kicking off the “Hong Kong Cinema: The Next Generation” film series.
Mr. Chan directed the “Red Egg on the Road” segment featured in the film.
Speaking at the screening, Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, New York Monica Chen said, “This monthlong Hong Kong film series will present eight films that are a representation of the new face of Hong Kong cinema. This new generation of filmmakers not only forms an integral part of Hong Kong’s robust and creative film industry, they are also key to the thriving creative industry in Hong Kong.
“It also represents a manifestation of the good efforts by Hong Kong’s next generation of filmmakers in continuously contributing to the development of the entire film industry,” she said.
“A Decade of Love” features nine independent stories by 10 directors, displaying the lifestyle and pace of people in the 21st century and also demonstrating the directors’ passion for Hong Kong in the last decade.
After the screening, Mr. Chan hosted a discussion session with the audience. He said “A Decade of Love,” with its collection of 10-minute short films set in various prominent Hong Kong locations, conveys the theme of “love” through the eyes of the different directors, 10 years after the 1997 Handover.
 |
Hong Kong film director Chan Wing Chiu (left) hosts a discussion session with the audience after the screening of “A Decade of Love.” |
Mr. Chan said “A Decade of Love” is not the typical Hong Kong movie, adding noting it is a departure from the action movies with which most American audiences are familiar. He said it represents new directions Hong Kong directors are exploring in the film industry.
The other movies featured in the film series are “Golden Chicken,” “The Drummer,” “The Pye Dog,” “Mob Sister,” “Fatal Contact,” “Mr. Cinema” and “Eye in the Sky.”
A program highlight of the film series was a short illustrated lecture on the evolution of Hong Kong film genres by Barbara Scharres, director of programming at the Gene Siskel Film Center, after the May 2 screening of “Golden Chicken.”
The film series is a core program of May’s Hong Kong Comes to Chicago 2009 Festival, held in conjunction with Chicago’s monthlong celebration of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month.
Other events include the “This is Hong Kong” photo exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center, a multimedia exhibition showcasing Hong Kong through the eyes of five students from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, a music performance featuring a Chinese ensemble and Chicago's Fulcrum Point New Music Project and gallery talks about Hong Kong and Chinese art.
|
