Latest news with #InfernalAffairs
The Star
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Hong Kong cinema plans to resurrect its golden age with fresh faces at Cannes
Tony Leung Ka-fai poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Sons Of The Neon Night' at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 17, 2025. Photo: AP Hong Kong's once world-famous movie industry wants to bring back the heydays of the 1970s to the 1990s by investing in a new generation of directors, the chairman of the city's film development council said at the Cannes Film Festival. "We should not forget our identity. How the people all over the world would look at us when they recognise a Hong Kong movie," said Wilfred Wong, chairman of the council that is mainly responsible for government funding of the industry. Hong Kong cinema exploded in the 1970s with Bruce Lee's martial arts films. Following his death, that mantle was taken up by Jackie Chan. The industry expanded into other genres and became the darling of international film festivals with titles such as In The Mood For Love , Infernal Affairs and Kung Fu Hustle . Stars like Andy Lau, Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung, and directors such as John Woo and Johnnie To, were frequently seen walking on the festival's red carpet. Hong Kong's star started to fade in the 1990s when the former British colony was handed over to China, due to a variety of factors, including overproduction, the Asian financial crisis and talent leaving for Hollywood. With a view to the shrinking industry, investors were unwilling to take a risk on young talent and would only approve productions with well-known stars and directors. Hong Kong's Film Development Council is now looking to address that by financially supporting new directors' first film initiative. The council has in recent years groomed 32 new directors, said Wong. One of those new talents, director and actor Juno Mak, wrote and directed the Cannes out-of-competition film Sons Of The Neon Nights , starring veteran actor Tony Leung Ka-fai. "It's kind of happiness, joy, enjoyable and satisfaction. So we can again show to all the audience and all the people in the world what Hong Kong productions are going on now," Leung Ka-fai said. The 67-year-old actor said that Hong Kong's film industry was in need of new blood. "We need new generations of directors, new generations of actors and actresses, new generations of script writers, new generations of every part that makes this dream," he said. – Reuters
South China Morning Post
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
How culture, politics and people inspire this Hong Kong artist
Artist Chow Chun-fai first became aware of journalist Sharon Cheung Po-wah from her 2000 interaction with the then Chinese president Jiang Zemin . During a press conference in Beijing, when Cheung quizzed Jiang over the endorsement of Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa for a second term, the Chinese leader famously berated her, calling her questioning, as a journalist, 'too simple, sometimes naive'. It is a moment that has since achieved meme status with the Hong Kong public, both in journalism circles and beyond. Advertisement 'It's not just how Cheung was bold enough to ask the question, but also that the leaders revealed their true emotions,' says Chow. 'I don't know if that was my first encounter with her, but it definitely was the most memorable.' Over the past two decades, Chow, 45, has built a reputation as a quintessentially Hong Kong artist. A graduate of Chinese University's Department of Fine Arts, he is best known for his ongoing series 'Painting on Movies' , depicting scenes from films that often uncannily reflect public sentiment. One of his most recognised works, from 2007, features a still from Infernal Affairs (2002), with Tony Leung Chiu-wai's character stating, 'I want my identity back' – an allusion to the then nascent struggles of Hongkongers' relationship with their hometown. One of Chow Chun-fai's most recognised works is based on a scene from the film Infernal Affairs for his series Painting on Movies. Photo: courtesy SC Gallery Chow has also drawn on his experience as a taxi driver, having inherited his father's taxi licence when he was still in school. In recent years, he's been taking inspiration from the political upheaval of 2019 for his series 'Portraits from Behind', and has depicted lost street corners and cultural landmarks in his 'Map of Amnesia' exhibition Cheung, formerly of the South China Morning Post and Cable TV, left her trade during the pandemic and studied for an arts degree, initially seeing it as a way to indulge her interest in drawing. But when artist and educator Kurt Chan Yuk-keung complimented her on her curatorial skills, she parlayed her passion into promoting local artists who could benefit from her background in marketing and journalism. In 2022, she founded SC Gallery, in Wong Chuk Hang, and has since put on a slew of group and solo exhibitions, working with artists such as Gum Cheng Yee-man, Oscar Chan Yik-long and Cheng Ting Ting. For 'Interview the Interviewer II', a series of paintings that will be on display at Art Basel Hong Kong's Insights sector, Chow assumes the role of the interviewer, drawing from materials accumulated by Cheung during her time as a political reporter, to interpret and re-present recent Hong Kong history through the lens of someone on the front lines of important moments in the city. Chow Chun-fai's painting of a still from news footage showing a 1999 meeting between US president Bill Clinton and premier Zhu Rongji, subtitled 'I love American people, thank you.' Photo: courtesy SC Gallery Among the works is a still from news footage that shows a 1999 meeting between former United States president Bill Clinton and former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, subtitled I love American people, thank you. Given where Sino-US relations stand today, it recalls a simpler geopolitical era, one near-unimaginable today.
