The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco (SFETO) helped celebrate Hong Kong cinema at the 29th Hawaii International Film Festival as five Hong Kong movies were screened at the festival. John Woo’s film, “Red Cliff” was selected as the festival’s Centerpiece film.

About 100 government officials, film makers, industry leaders attended “A Celebration of Hong Kong Cinema” gala reception in Honolulu, Hawaii. The reception was co-organized by SFETO and Hawaii International Film Festival as the official pre-film event for the festival’s Centerpiece film. Joining the reception included Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs, USA, Mr. Donald Tong and Director of SFETO, Mr. Jeff Leung as well as Hong Kong movie star, Mr. Nick Cheung, whose “Beast Stalker” was also featured in the festival.

Addressing the guests, Mr. Tong said,” Thanks to the abundant talent and experience Hong Kong possesses in film production, Hong Kong film industry has been contributing to the city’s international image and will remain a powerhouse for the future growth of our economy.”

“At present, Hong Kong has around 32,000 creative industry-related establishments engaging more than 170,000 practitioners and contributing seven billion dollars annually to our economic growth or around four percent of our GDP,” he continued.

In addressing a full house audience at the screening of Red Cliff, right after the reception, Mr. Tong said that Create Hong Kong, a government agency, set up in June, provides one-stop services and better support for the creative industry including the film industry by facilitating film productions in Hong Kong and promoting Hong Kong films locally and abroad.

In addition to attending the festival, Mr. Tong and Mr. Leung also met with the Governor of Hawaii, Linda Lingle and local government officials, updating them on Hong Kong’s latest developments.