The 28 th Hong Kong International Film Festival Closing Ceremony
Speech by Dr Darwin Chen, Chairman of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council
Date: April 20, 2004
Venue: Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Dear guests, filmmakers and members of the press,

The 28 th Hong Kong International Film Festival has dramatically closed after a fortnight of exciting and colourful programmes and events.

My association with the Hong Kong International Film Festival goes back many year s : it is long-standing and deeply entrenched. In the 1970s, as Director of Cultural Services, I proposed to the then Urban Council to start an international film festival in Hong Kong and bring to local audiences excellent films from all over the world. My proposal was enthusiastically supported by both members of the Council and movie audiences in Hong Kong.

In 1977, the Hong Kong International Film Festival was inaugurated and screened 37 films which were watched by some 16,000 people. This year the Film Festival presented more than 300 films from over 40 countries and regions --- and the number of v i ewers who watched these outstanding cinematic works would probably exceed last year’s 220,000.

We have , no dou b t, improved not only in quantity but also in quality. The films shown over the last two weeks featured mainstream and experimental works by both masters of the cinema and fledgling filmmakers. The increase in the number of participating countries and regions year after year simply means that the Hong Kong International Film Festival is living up to its name.

The Film Festival benefits not only Hong Kong audiences but attracts visitors from overseas as well. It is, therefore, a forum of exchange for film lovers around the world, creating the opportunity for participants to experience the cultural expressions of other peoples and societies.

For the past three years the Hong Kong Arts Development Council has organised this prestigious international film event, but from next year onwards the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society Limited will take over as the new organiser, reaching a dazzling milestone. Under this company, the Hong Kong International Film Festival will enjoy greater flexibility in terms of organisation, management and operations and raise audience expectations to new heights. Both my colleagues in the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and I are supremely confident that the Hong Kong International Film Festival will grow from strength to strength and become a well-recognised brand of the film industry in China and all of Asia. This will add more colour and life to this thriving “City of Life” that we call Hong Kong our home.

Thank you very much.