Press Release - June 27, 2003

The Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada), Mrs. Rosanna Ure, was confident that Hong Kong will come out stronger than before despite the recent adversity and challenges.

Addressing the audience at the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Film Festival “Gems from Asia’s Hollywood – A Retrospect of John Woo” (HKFF) held this (June 27) evening in Toronto, Mrs. Ure said the setbacks Hong Kong has suffered from in recent years could not dent the “Hong Kong Spirit”.

Mrs. Ure said the success of containing SARS in Hong Kong, which is one of the hardest hit regions in the epidemic, illustrated vividly the “Hong Kong Spirit”.

She said: “Every time we face a difficulty which at times seems insurmountable, we fight back and prevail.

“In the face of adversity, we rise to the challenge, use our creativity and ingenuity and come out stronger than before.”

The Director of HKETO said the “Hong Kong Spirit” is best represented by the city’s film industry and its professionals who have come a long way since the early days when films were made to satisfy a local audience. The journey to international recognition has been a long one.

“The language and cultural barriers, the different practices in overseas film production industry and the keen competition from other places have done one thing – to strengthen the resolve of our film makers to try harder and do better.

“Hong Kong had a rudimentary film industry back in the fifties, when low budget films were made to cater for the local audience. Today Hong Kong is one of the world’s major production centers, and the regional hub for film trading and services. In the past few years, Hong Kong’s film talents have gained international recognition in film festivals around the world,” she continued.

“Now many of our movie stars and behind-the-scene professionals are Hollywood’s recent success stories,” she added.

Jointly organized by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada) and the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto, the HKFF aims to illustrate the developments of Hong Kong’s film industry, to enable Canadian viewers to appreciate the unique qualities of Hong Kong films and to recognize the achievements of Hong Kong’s film industry professionals.

It is also held to mark the sixth anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Also present at today’s opening ceremony were the Executive Director of CCC, Mr. Stephen Siu, and the Vice President, Marketing & Commercial Development of ROM, Mr. Joel Peters.

Films to be shown at the Royal Ontario Museum from June 27-29 and July 4-6 are seven of John Woo’s best films, namely: “Hard Boiled”, “A Better Tomorrow”, “A Better Tomorrow II”, “To Hell with the Devil”, “The Killer”, “Shaolin Men” and “Laughing Times”. Tickets are available at the ROM Box Office (100 Queens’ Park) and CCC (5183 Sheppard Ave East) at $8. Proceeds of the event will be donated to CCC for its Phase II Development. For detailed information, please visit HKETO’s official website at www.hketo.ca

After the Toronto release, these films will then be shown in Calgary and Vancouver in mid-July and late July respectively.

To enable Canadians to have first-hand experience of Hong Kong, Asia’s world city, names of all ticket holders attending the Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver events will be automatically included in a lucky draw. The grand prizewinner will receive two economy class flight tickets, either from Toronto or Vancouver to Hong Kong and 5-night hotel accommodation in Hong Kong, courtesy of Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong Tourism Board and Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel.

The Hong Kong Film Festival “Gems from Asia’s Hollywood – A Retrospect of John Woo” is fully supported by the Royal Ontario Museum, Tour East Holidays, and Hong Kong Trade Development Council as well as by the Fairchild Media Group and Ming Pao as its media sponsor.


For more information, please contact: John Tam, Chief Information Officer of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office at: (416) 924-5544 or email: [email protected] or Elison Chu, Senior Information Office, [email protected].