Equipped with facilities that include a cinema, an exhibition hall, a resource centre and four temperature-controlled collection stores, the Hong Kong Film Archive continues to acquire, preserve, catalogue and document Hong Kong films and related materials. It also regularly organises retrospective screenings, thematic exhibitions, symposiums and seminars on films.
In 2013-14, three major thematic exhibitions were organised: Golden Harvest: A Landmark in Hong Kong Cinema, Merry-Go-Movies: Star Kids, and Down Memory Lane: Movie Theatres of the Olden Days. The Film Archive attracted around 177 800 visitors during the year.
The exhibition Golden Harvest: A Landmark in Hong Kong Cinema showcased the contribution of one of Hong Kong’s pioneering film studios, Golden Harvest, in ushering in the trend for multiple film genres and nurturing many stars who went on to become world-famous.
The Merry-Go-Movies: Star Kids exhibition revisited the lives and work of the child actors of the 1950s and 60s, who delivered vivid and touching performances in hundreds of films.
The exhibition hall of the Hong Kong Film Archive has been transformed to resemble the lobby of an old movie theatre, giving visitors a nostalgic taste of the past.
To date, the Film Archive has acquired 12 867 film titles and 1 136 197 film-related materials, mainly through donations. Major acquisitions in 2013-14 included 17 titles of film prints, trailers, teasers and footage dating from 1993 to 2012 donated by Pegasus Motion Pictures Distribution Limited, 127 titles of pre-print materials dating from 1993 to 2012 donated by Universe Films Distribution Company Limited, nine titles of film prints and pre-print materials dating from 2005 to 2010 donated by Point of View Movie Production Company Limited, and 1 886 items including digital betacam, betacam SP, U-matic tapes, posters, stills, photos, film programmes and handbills donated by Lui Ming (International) Film Enterprises.
During the year, efforts were also made to preserve a batch of Hong Kong films recently acquired from San Francisco, USA. Some of them were long-lost pre-World War II films from as early as 1937, and greatly enriched our film collection. Three publications were issued in 2013-14: The Chaozhou-dialect Films of Hong Kong, Merry-Go-Movies: Star Kids of HK Cinema in the 50s and 60s, and Always in the Dark: A Study of Hong Kong Gangster Films.
The Film Programmes Office works to promote a culture of film appreciation in Hong Kong. In 2013-14, the office organised a variety of popular film and media arts programmes and seminars that gave local audiences many opportunities to appreciate international cinema.
Six of Alfred Hitchcock’s silent movies from the 1920s were screened as part of the Hong Kong Film Archive's Restored Treasures series.
Highlights of the year included the International Children’s Film Carnival 2013, the Chinese Film Panorama 2013, the 42nd French Cinepanorama, Critics’ Choice 2013 – Film Narrative in Perspective, Repertory Cinema 2013 – Italian Neo-realism Cinema, and Cinematic Legacy of Eastern Europe.
The Chinese Film Panorama 2013 opened at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre with the award-winning film Feng Shui, directed by Wang Jing and starring actress Yan Bingyan.
Other thematic programmes included the Cinematic Matrix of Golden Harvest, Merry-Go-Movies‧Star Kids, Chaozhou Dialect Films – Key to Hong Kong’s Multi-Cultural Heritage, Transcending Space and Time – Early Cinematic Experience of Hong Kong, Movie Talk, and A Myriad of Charm – In Commemoration of Hung Sin Nui.
In support of major local film events, the LCSD sponsors the venue for the annual Hong Kong Film Awards Presentation Ceremony. It also provides funding support to the Hong Kong Arts Centre to organise the annual Incubator for Film and Visual Media in Asia (formerly the Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Awards), and to Microwave Company Limited to organise the Microwave International New Media Arts Festival. These events encourage creative, independent productions of short films and videos and, more generally, promote the media arts.
