Press Release - May 9, 2005

An exceptional documentary consists of collage of classic shots of Hong Kong films in the past century, depicting the creativity and talents of Hong Kong film industry, will be screened this Wednesday at a public lecture to be hosted by Senator Vivienne Poy at the University of Toronto.

In support of the Asian Heritage Month and to acknowledge the long and rich history of Asian Canadians and their contributions to Canada, the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (Canada) (HKETO) has joined hands with the University of Toronto and the Asian Heritage Month GTA Citizens Group to present the two-part lecture, which will be highlighted by the short film “A Century of Hong Kong Cinema”, and a conversation with award-winning Canadian film director and Deepa Mehta, who was born in India but has become a well-known film director, producer and writer in Canada.

“Hong Kong’s film industry has been a vibrant and creative one for decades,” said HKETO Director, Mr Bassanio So. “Hong Kong is a major film production centre and film exporter in the world.”

“Showcasing such captivating film clips featuring love scenes, comedy, beloved actors action films, ‘A Century of Hong Kong Cinema’ represents a reminiscence of achievements of the Hong Kong film industry in the past century,” Mr So said.

Also commenting on the film, Dr Kay Li of the university’s Asian Institute said, “The documentary is a very rare one. Not only does it include classic shots from familiar Hong Kong films, such as fighting scenes with Bruce Lee and Jacky Chan, or gangsters films from Chow Yun-fat and John Woo, it also presents a number of precious extracts. These rare archives range from black and white Cantonese films, colour Mandarin musicals, early kungfu dramas to monumental social comedies.”

“People can get a sense of various genres of Hong Kong film and its history. Today’s Hong Kong film is a reflection of the development of Hong Kong, and a microcosm of universal human response under modernity and globalization,” added Dr Li.

Preceding the screening of the Hong Kong documentary was a presentation on “The Impact of Asian Canadians on Film: An Evening with Deepa Mehta”. Ms Mehta has won numerous awards at various prestigious international film festivals, among which including the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival.

The lecture/film screening will be held from 7:00pm to 9:00pm this Wednesday at Room 108, Koffler Institute for Pharmacy Management (569 Spadina Avenue).


For more information, please contact: Stephen Siu, Assistant Director (Public Relations) of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office at: (416)924-5544 or email: [email protected] or Elison Chu, Senior Information Officer, [email protected]

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