THE film industry may be dimming in Hong Kong, but the future for Hong Kong filmmakers is still bright. Veteran Hong Kong filmmakers and directors expressed their beliefs at a recent movie exhibition that their ability to appeal both to mainland moviegoers and Western audiences will help them revive the spirit of Hong Kong movies.

    Hong Kong Movie Week, co-sponsored by the Beijing Office of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administration Region and Broadway Cinematheque, released five well-received Hong Kong movies in Tianjin for showings during the past week, China Daily reported.

    The displayed titles included coming-of-age movie “My Voice, My Life,” directed by Oscar-winning documentary maker Ruby Yang, the sports flick “Full Strike” and the crime thriller “Two Thumbs Up,” which were seen by mainland moviegoers for the first time in theaters.

    The release list also included the comedy “Little Big Master” and “Dot 2 Dot,” this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards’ nominee. Both had been screened on the mainland earlier this year.

    Many observers say the Hong Kong film industry’s golden age was from the 1980s to the mid-1990s. During that period, the region produced about 300 movies every year and boasted a big fan base across Asia.

    The classic works of action superstars such as Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-fat have become part of the collective memory of a generation of Chinese movie fans.

    Most insiders attribute the fall of the Hong Kong movie industry to the Asian financial crisis of 1997. Other factors include top filmmakers being lured to Hollywood and more formulaic plots ruining viewers’ appetites for such films.

    The yearly output has shrunk to around 50 titles since 2003.

    However, veteran Hong Kong filmmakers are enjoying a boom in the mainland market, which produced 618 movies last year and earned a record box office take of 29.6 billion yuan (US$4.77 billion).

    “The early spirit of Hong Kong movies is not dying. Hong Kong has created many classic titles. We have the confidence to make new ones,” says Hong Kong Movie Week’s frontman, Nick Cheung.

    Cheung, a two-time winner of the Hong Kong Film Awards’ best actor award, recently starred in the crime thriller “Helios,” which grossed 210 million yuan over the May Day holiday.

    With a cast of Hong Kong A-listers, the movie was seen by critics as an effort to revive Hong Kong movies.

    There is also hope that Hong Kong filmmakers will learn how to better appeal to mainland moviegoers.

    Kung fu master director Tsui Hark triumphed with the revolutionary film “The Taking of Tiger Mountain,” which brought in a box office of 880 million yuan.

    Derek Yee, famed for directing crime films, chose the extras working in China’s largest film shooting location of Hengdian as the subject of his upcoming film “I Am Somebody.”

    Not surprisingly, while most top Hong Kong filmmakers traditionally spoke limited Mandarin, many Hong Kong directors, producers and actors today have worked to improve that shortcoming.

    Veteran Hong Kong film producer Shi Nan-sun, speaking at the just-concluded Shanghai International Film Festival, says Hong Kong filmmakers know how to tailor their work for an international market and win Western audiences.

    “The Taking of Tiger Mountain,” for example, has had the largest distribution of a Chinese-language movie in recent years.

    “In France, 100 cinemas will screen the movie. It’s very inspiring,” says Shi, who is also a producer on the movie.

    (SD-Agencies)