Hong Kong Film Festival: Remembering Leslie Cheung

By Yi Chen

Washington, DC – The Freer Gallery of Art’s Annual Made in Hong Kong Film Festival is one of the most popular summer movie events in Washington, D.C. The 18th edition opened with four all-star award-wining blockbuster movies in June. Co-sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, the festival continues in July with three classic films starring Hong Kong icon Leslie Cheung, in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of his tragic death. The festival will conclude in August with a fourth Cheung film selected by the public.

The festival first started to include classic Hong Kong films last year, because “a lot of these movies that people know from the 80s and 90s can’t be seen in the U.S. anymore,” said festival curator Tom Vick. “We got really good crowds last year. It shows that people who remember these movies are really looking for a place to see them.” Vick worked with the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office to secure 35 mm prints from the Hong Kong Film Archive, which is an internationally renowned film archive dedicated to preserving Hong Kong’s film heritage. He sees the film festival as a good way to introduce Hong Kong cinema to American audiences. Now in its 18th year, the Made in Hong Kong Film Festival is the longest running annual film program at the Freer Gallery of Art.

Tom Vick has been the festival curator since 2002 and he observes “a growing audience and following of Hong Kong cinema” over the last 11 years. For example, “Wong Kar-wai has a huge following and people are aware of actors like Anthony Wong and Aaron Kwok who may not have a huge profile among general public,” Vick said, but through the festival people have got to know them over the years. For Vick, to see an audience developed for these great directors and actors is “the most gratifying and satisfying thing about programming the festival.”

This year, the festival aims to become more interactive with its audience through a public poll on Freer & Sackler’s Facebook page. Audience can vote for their favorite Leslie Cheung film and the winning film will be screened on August 2 and August 4. The idea to pay tribute to actor Leslie Cheung actually came from public interest. An icon in Hong Kong, Cheung is also respected and adored by American audience. Vick recalled, “after last year’s festival, we started getting these emails from people saying that next year is the tenth anniversary of Leslie Cheung’s death and you need to do something in the festival.”

Vick hopes that the festival will not only be a fun summer time program that serves its loyal audience, but will also get new audience interested in Hong Kong cinema. The line of classic films this year includes action thriller “A Better Tomorrow (1986),” romantic horror film “A Chinese Ghost Story (1987)” and comedy “Viva Erotica (1996).”

Directed by John Woo, “A Better Tomorrow” was selected by the Hong Kong Film Archives’ 100 Must-See Hong Kong Movies. A classic story of a cop torn between duty and familial obligation to his gangster brother, the film established director John Woo’s reputation as both a master and an innovator.

“A Chinese Ghost Story” is based on a short story from Qing Dynasty writer Pu Songling’s book Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai Zhiyi). A traveling tax collector meets and falls in love with a beautiful woman – who happens to be a ghost. The film sparked a trend of folklore ghost films in the Hong Kong film industry.

 

Derek Yee’s movie industry satire “Viva Erotica” depicts a down-on-his-luck filmmaker named Sing who, after a string of flops, agrees to direct a soft-core porn flick. He struggles to maintain both his artistic integrity and his relationship with his girlfriend (Karen Mok) while he deals with a sleazy producer and a tempestuous starlet (Shu Qi) who refuses to take off her clothes.

The film that opened the festival on June 7, “The Bullet Vanishes,” is a co-production with mainland China. Commissioner Tong predicts that more Hong Kong filmmakers will be co-producing films in the future. It is “a trend and works very well,” Tong said. Hong Kong’s population is a little over 7 million, which is a relatively small market. Co-productions with mainland Chinese producers will allow the film to tap into a share of China’s box office, which will reach an estimated $3.6 billion this year.

Co-productions often bring together film industry talents from both sides. Like “The Bullet Vanishes,” many co-productions have actors and actresses that speak both Mandarin and Cantonese, “which is now the way of life in Hong Kong and mainland China.” said Tong. Hong Kong is also encouraging “smaller and independent productions” to diversify its film industry and support young directors.

All films are in Cantonese & Mandarin with English subtitles unless otherwise indicated. Admission is free and two tickets per person are distributed at the Meyer Auditorium beginning one hour before each show. The festival runs through Sunday, August 4. Showtime is every Friday at 7pm and every Sunday at 2pm. Complete schedule can be found on the Freer Gallery of Art’s website under events and films. To vote in the poll, visit www.facebook.com/FreerSackler.

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