Exhibition puts works on global stage

Yeung also said the gist of the movie echoes much of President Xi Jinping's vision of building "a community with a shared future for mankind". He said he hoped to bring more high-quality mainland movies to the audience in Hong Kong and overseas markets in the future.

Hong Kong veteran filmmaker Tenky Tin Kai-man said in an interview in January that although Hong Kong market is of limited scale, the international platform can help expand movie productions' influence across Asia.

Tin added that many foreign blockbusters had their premieres in Hong Kong, instead of other international cities, to create greater influences in neighboring markets such as Southeast Asia.

The release in Hong Kong also helped some high-quality mainland films gain reputation in overseas markets and win international awards.

He hopes more mainland movies can be introduced to Hong Kong, which will not only help with the promotion of mainland films, but also offer more diversified choices for Hong Kong audiences.

Bonnie Jia, a TV series producer who flew to Hong Kong from Beijing to attend the four-day expo, was excited to see Filmart return physically after a three-year hiatus. She said by showcasing both good movies and TV series, the Filmart has provided comprehensive content that satisfies the taste of a wide range of audiences. Visitors can also reach out to exhibitors from every section of the videography production in one go, she added.

Jia was also impressed by the diversified mainland productions at the event, which included not only stories about Chinese history and traditional culture, but also works reflecting the mainland's economic development and the striving and innovative spirits of Chinese people.

"Many outstanding works from Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong province at the trade show also reflect the flourishing development of cultural industries in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," Jia added.

Hong Kong young director Norris Wong Yee-lam brought her movie project The Mermaid's Tale to seek funding at the film-financing forum. Wong's debut movie My Prince Edward helped her win "best new director" at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2020. She now regularly commutes between Hong Kong and Taiwan and works on projects in both places.

Wong said Hong Kong's extensive connections with international and mainland markets have made it an ideal platform for moviemakers to seek financing.

She believes Hong Kong filmmakers' decadeslong experience on movie production and the closer communication and exchanges with counterparts in neighboring areas will help the city create more great works in the future.

"Hong Kong has always been good at producing commercial films, such as actions and crime thrillers," Wong said. But she also noticed that more local directors have made small-budget films with appealing stories, which have been well received in the local market. She was glad to see many locally made movies hit the box office over the recent years, and she is looking forward to seeing more great works produced by the local film industry.

In addition to promoting mainland movies, EMP also announced over a dozen local movie projects at Filmart. Yow said Hong Kong had seen a box-office boom over the past few years, with some homemade movies grossing tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars locally, a remarkable achievement for a city with 7.5 million residents.

Yow said Hong Kong's movie market is becoming more diverse. The city's production teams can work with mainland practitioners to coproduce high-budget action or police thrillers. They can also shoot feature films with local themes.

"Film production is always an art of storytelling, and the variety in genre is critical for the market's healthy development," Yow said.