FEATURE
doesn’t cost a lot of money. Sometimes it’s tricky because a fi nancier, especially those from Western countries, will look at a film that costs so little money and hesitate because it’s too small. Distribution is also diffi cult — Asian arthouse
fi lms go on the international fi lm festival circuit and may fi nd with some luck that they get picked up by European sales agents. And sometimes with even more luck, they get sold back to this part of the world. In most Asian countries, we don’t look at the works of our neighbours apart from some major Chinese, Japanese and Korean products.
Q Why did you decide to include documentaries for the fi rst time this year?
We decided to do so this year because it’s our 10th anniversary. We thought we’d have a little more money and we have a tie-up with Copenhagen. There are not many events focusing on Asian docu- mentaries, but there are funding bodies such as Busan’s Asian Network of Documentaries (AND). And [Japanese broadcaster] NHK is a major fi nan- cier of documentaries in this region, but everyone approaches them so it’s diffi cult to get fi nancing.
is money in Asia, especially north of Hong Kong. But the question is, how do you get that fi nance into your pockets to do what you want to do? There’s still not much of an infrastructure in China for fi nancing these kinds of budgets, so we don’t see a lot of that money coming to HAF. HAF sometimes has bigger productions, and
those can attract fi nance easily, but the smaller pro- ducers still rely on fi lm funds in Western Europe. It’s easier for a Hong Kong person to fi nd Chinese money, but those who are not making Chinese- language fi lms will fi nd it diffi cult.
arthouse fi lms? Yes, a large proportion of these projects don’t get made because of the subject matter, even if it
Q Is it also diffi cult to fi nd fi nance for Chinese
Q What proportion of the projects that are submitted to you come with finance already attached?
We have a tendency to give priority to projects that already have some money attached because it’s easier for them to get more financing. When an investor sees there is already somebody in a project, they feel it is easier to take a share rather than go into a brand new project, especially if the fi lm-maker or producer is new. Also, in matters of quality, usually the better projects are those that already have a little bit of fi nancing secured.
Q Looking at the region, which countries do you think are the most cinematically exciting at present?
Probably Indonesia. We have four Indone- Kinatay
‘We’ve helped film-makers go to major film festivals and launched their
careers’ Jacob Wong, HAF
sian fi lms in HKIFF and three and a co-produc- tion in HAF. I think a certain sector of their population is becoming affluent, so there are young film-makers who are well-educated and interested in world cinema and want to become a part of it. They also have an indigenous industry, though most of what they make is only for domes- tic consumption. The optimism is comparable to what I experience in Taiwan — these were the two happiest places in 2011.
Q How do you see the future of independent Hong Kong cinema?
I think it’s very diffi cult for Hong Kong people to overcome the illusion that what happened in the ‘golden years’ of Hong Kong cinema was not a miracle. A miracle by defi nition is something that happened but should not have happened, and it is unrealistic to expect a miracle to go on forever. We have new film-makers emerging but they tend to follow the tradition and move into the industry. There’s nothing wrong with that, but they’re not consciously going to make a Hong Kong film. Conditions have changed and China is so big.
Also, the Cantonese language is still spoken, but it is spoken less — especially in Chinese communi- ties outside of Hong Kong.
Q Where do you see HAF heading in the next 10 years?
We’ll keep on doing what we’ve been doing. We’re also considering a tie-up with TIBE [Taipei International Book Exhibition ]. They have a stand at Filmart this year and a happy hour inside HAF to tell people what they are doing. In the future, we could bring in publish- ers and instead of fi lm projects there will be books and works-in-progress. Chinese film- makers often read books and think about adapt- ing them, but it’s not easy because there’s no formalised system.
competition, Vancouver International Film Festival 2010
GENPIN (Jap) Dir Naomi Kawase Track record Toronto International Film Festival 2010; Paris Project 2009
THE YELLOW SEA (S Kor) Dir Na Hong-jin
Track record Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival 2011; best actor, Asian Film Awards 2011; no. 1 holiday weekend box offi ce in South Korea, 2010
THE DANCER (Indon) Dir Ifa Isfansyah
Track record
Commercial release in 2011
SAMPAGUITA, NATIONAL FLOWER (Phil) Dir Francis Xavier Pasion Track record Berlin International Film Festival 2011; in competition, Vancouver International Film Festival 2010; in competition, Busan International Film Festival 2010; special jury prize, The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival 2010
2008
THIRST (S Kor) Dir Park Chan-wook Track record Best visual effects, Asian Film Awards 2010; jury prize, Cannes Film Festival 2009; NETPAC Award, Busan International Film Festival 2009; best supporting actress and best music, Blue Dragon Awards 2009; Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2009
KARAOKE (Mal) Dir Chris Chong Chan Fui Track record Best editor, Asian Film
Karaoke
Awards 2010; Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes Film Festival 2009; Toronto International Film Festival 2009; Busan International Film Festival 2009; Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2009
SERVICE (Phil) Dir Brillante Mendoza Track record Three nominations and winner of best supporting actress, Asian Film Awards 2009; Taipei Golden Horse Film
Festival 2009; in competition, Cannes Film Festival 2008; Toronto International Film Festival 2008; Busan International Film Festival 2008
MOTHER (S Kor) Dir Bong Joon-ho Track record South Korea’s entry for best foreign-language fi lm, Academy Awards 2010; best fi lm, best actress and best screenwriter, Asian Film Awards 2010; Un Certain
Regard, Cannes Film Festival 2009; best performance by an actress, Asia Pacifi c Screen Awards 2009; best fi lm, best supporting actor and best lighting, Blue Dragon Awards 2009; Toronto International Film Festival 2009; Busan International Film Festival 2009; Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2009
HI-SO (Thai) Dir Aditya Assarat Track record Hong Kong International Film Festival 2011; Tokyo International Film Festival 2010; Busan International Film Festival 2010; Paris Project 2008
JULIETS (Tai) Dirs Hou Chi-Jan, Shen Ko-Shang, Chen Yu-Hsun Track record Nomination at Golden Horse Awards 2010; opening fi lm, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2010; Tokyo International Film Festival 2010; Busan International Film Festival 2010
March 21, 2012 Screen International at Filmart 17 ■
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