The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) (HKETO) supported the screening of seven Hong Kong films at the 26th Fantasia International Film Festival held from July 14 to August 3 in Montreal. In particular, the Festival honoured Hong Kong director Mr John Woo with the “Career Achievement Award” at the screening of his film “Hard Boiled” on July 15.
Speaking before the screening of “Hard Boiled”, Director of the HKETO, Ms Emily Mo, congratulated Mr Woo on receiving the prestigious award. "I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to director Woo, and express my appreciation for his continuous achievements in creating groundbreaking films that have inspired many people in Hong Kong as well as audiences outside Hong Kong,” Ms Mo said.
Noting Hong Kong has a vibrant film industry, Ms Mo added that the city is a cosmopolitan city full of creativity. “Hong Kong has been making movies for more than a century and is a leading film-making centre in Asia. Hong Kong films are ambassadors which connect Hong Kong with the world and over the past decade, Hong Kong films and talents have won over 300 international awards,” she said.
Ms Mo added that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has been very supportive of the development of Hong Kong film industry. “We finance the production of small-to-medium budget films, provide funding support for the industry to attend film festivals overseas, and subsidise training programmes to help nurture young directors and scriptwriting talents for the industry,” she added.
Noting that people in Hong Kong and Canada share a love for movies, she remarked that the HKETO would continue to support Hong Kong films to participate in various international film festivals held in Canada, including Fantasia.
Before closing, Ms Mo invited the audiences to join the celebration events organised by the HKETO in the coming months which included a photo exhibition to be held at Complexe Desjardins in Montreal in October.
Director of the film Mr Woo also attended the screening to introduce the film before the screening and participated in a question-and-answer session at the end of the screening.
The other Hong Kong films at the Festival included “The Heroic Trio”, “Mercenaries from Hong Kong”, “Detective vs. Sleuths”, “The Kid with the Golden Arm”, “Chilli Laugh Story” and “Legendary in Action”.
香港電影在Fantasia國際電影節放映
香港駐多倫多經濟貿易辦事處（香港經貿處）支持七部香港電影於七月十四日至八月三日在滿地可舉行的第二十六屆Fantasia國際電影節放映。電影節於七月十五日在電影《辣手神探》放映前，特別向香港導演吳宇森頒發「終身成就獎」，以示表揚。
香港經貿處處長巫菀菁於《辣手神探》放映前致辭，祝賀吳宇森獲得這項殊榮。她說：「我向吳導演致以衷心祝賀，並讚揚他在電影製作方面持續的貢獻，他的作品對香港以至海外許多觀眾均極具影響力。」
巫菀菁同時表示，香港的電影業發展蓬勃，而香港是一個充滿創意的國際大都會。她說：「香港電影的發展至今已逾一個世紀，香港亦是亞洲首屈一指的電影製作中心。香港電影是聯繫香港與世界的橋樑，在過去十年，香港電影和業界人才獲頒逾三百個國際獎項。」
巫菀菁強調，香港特別行政區政府一直非常支持香港電影業發展，她補充說：「我們資助中低成本的電影製作，贊助業界人士出席海外的電影節，並且資助訓練計劃，協助培育業界新進導演和編劇人才。」
巫菀菁深感香港和加拿大的民眾均熱愛電影，她表示香港經貿處會繼續支持香港電影參與包括Fantasia在內的各個於加拿大舉行的國際電影節。
最後巫菀菁誠邀觀眾參與香港經貿處在未來數月舉辦的慶祝回歸活動，包括於十月在滿地可Complexe Desjardins舉行的圖片展覽。
導演吳宇森亦有出席《辣手神探》的放映，並在放映前向觀眾介紹該電影，他在電影放映後參與答問環節。
其他在今屆電影節放映的香港電影包括：《東方三俠》、《獵魔者》、《神探大戰》、《金臂童》、《闔家辣》及《大俠Action》。
