Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels (HKETO, Brussels) supports the participation of Hong Kong films in the Asian Film Festival Barcelona (the Festival).   
      
     A new generation of Hong Kong filmmakers was put in the spotlight at the Festival. The Hong Kong New Talents film programme was taking its world tour to introduce and promote our new generation of filmmakers to international audiences. The Festival is the travelling programme’s fourth stop after at the 23rd Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, Chicago’s Asian Pop-Up Cinema, and the London East Asia Film Festival.

     Derek Tsang’s award-winning “Better Days” was selected as the closing film of the Festival. The other films screened in-theatre were Jun Li’s “Drifting”, Chan Kin-long’s “Hand Rolled Cigarette”, Erica Li’s “Just 1 Day”, Man Lim-chung’s “Keep Rolling”, Anselm Chan’s “Ready O/R Knot”, Ricky Ko’s “Time”, Jimmy Wan’s “Zero to Hero”. Two other films, Chiu Sin-hang’s “One Second Champion” and Kit Hung’s “Stoma” were available for streaming.
      
     At the networking dinner hosted for Spanish film distributors, cinema directors and festival jury members on November 4 (Barcelona time), the Deputy Representative of HKETO, Brussels, Miss Grace Li, highlighted that Hong Kong had long been a meeting point for Chinese and Western cultures where local and foreign talents, including many filmmakers, had been inspired to produce fine work. She added that Hong Kong had developed into a major arts hub, becoming the second largest art trading centre in the world in 2020. Hong Kong was keen to attract more professionals from around the world, providing immigration facilitation for categories included in its Talent List.
      
     With the support of Create Hong Kong, 10 films from the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society’s Hong Kong New Talents film programme formed a special section of the Festival, held from October 27 to November 7. 
      
     The Festival is celebrating its ninth anniversary this year. Around 100 films from over 25 countries and regions produced are shown during the Festival.

     The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Brussels (HKETO, Brussels) held a business seminar in Bisceglie in the Apulia region of south Italy yesterday (September 10, Bisceglie time) with the support of Invest Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.  

     This is the seventh year that HKETO, Brussels has held a business seminar in the margins of the Salento International Film Festival to reach out to local entrepreneurs. The business seminar also provided an occasion to promote Hong Kong’s Talent List and the career opportunities the city offers to professionals.

     Speaking at the business seminar, the Acting Special Representative for Hong Kong Economic and Trade Affairs to the European Union, Mr Henry Tsoi, said that with its widely recognised business-friendly environment, Hong Kong is the most trusted partner for Italian companies to access the Asian markets. Hong Kong enterprises and professionals can offer business networks and world-class services to help Italian enterprises explore the vast opportunities provided by the Belt and Road Initiative as well as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development. With innovation and technology a major priority of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, innovative Italian enterprises can also find opportunities in Hong Kong and enjoy the city’s vibrant start-up ecosystem.  

     Also for the seventh time, HKETO, Brussels has supported  a Hong Kong film event at the  Salento International Film Festival. During the period of September 9 to 11, four Hong Kong feature films were  shown at the 18th edition of the Festival, namely Herman Yau’s “Shock Wave 2” and a tribute to Wong Kar-wai with screenings of his classic films “Happy Together”, “In the Mood for Love” and “Chungking Express”. Hong Kong and the Apulia region enjoy strong links and the best of the Salento International Film Festival has been screened in Hong Kong for a number of years.

     The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels (HKETO, Brussels) and Create Hong Kong are supporting the 18th Asian Summer Film Festival in Vic, Spain, from July 20 to July 25.

     A total of eight Hong Kong productions or co-productions including six films from 2020 and 2021 and two films from the 90’s are being screened. They are mainly action films and include Alan Fung’s “Elisa’s Day”,  Chiu Sin-Hang’s “One Second Champion”, Alan Yuen’s “The Rookies”, Jamie Luk’s “Robotrix”, Glenn Chan’s “Shadows”, and Herman Yau’s “Shock Wave 2”. Wong Jing’s “The Saint of Gamblers” pays tribute to late Hong Kong actor Ng Man Tat.  The festival programme also includes Jimmy Wan’s “Zero to Hero”, which is a biopic based on the true story of So Wa-wai, an athlete who represented Hong Kong in five Paralympic Games.

     On the Festival’s Hong Kong Day on July 22, three of the above films were screened and the festival gave a special honorary award to Hong Kong actor Andy Lau for his professional career in the film industry. HKETO, Brussels also hosted a Hong Kong reception for the media, representatives from local authorities and international guests.

     Speaking to the guests at the Hong Kong reception and at the Hong Kong Night in a pre-recorded message, the acting Deputy Representative of HKETO, Brussels, Ms Carol Tsang, said that HKETO, Brussels was delighted to support the festival and bring Hong Kong films to the Spanish audience despite the pandemic and the travel restrictions. She also highlighted that Hong Kong has one of the largest and most dynamic film entertainment industries in the world which can flourish because of Hong Kong’s international culture and a solid legal system that protects the intellectual property rights of artists and producers.

     The Asian Summer Film Festival is celebrating its 18th edition this year. It is one of the major film festivals that brings Hong Kong films to the European audience.