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The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world with an overall density of some 6300 people per square kilometre The Culture of Hong Kong can best be described as a foundation that began with China, and then leaned West for much of the 20th century under constructive Population census in Hong Kong ( a collection of demographic data in Hong Kong, is conducted by Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world with an overall density of some 6300 people per square kilometre The Hong Kong Identity Card (abbreviation HKID, ID card) is an official Identity document issued by the Immigration Department of Hong The issue of who has the right of abode in Hong Kong prompted a fierce debate at the end of the 20th century and tested the One Country Two Systems policy in China The Culture of Hong Kong can best be described as a foundation that began with China, and then leaned West for much of the 20th century under constructive The cuisine of Hong Kong is Cantonese cuisine with extensive influences from parts of non-Cantonese-speaking China (especially Chaozhou, Dongjiang, Public holidays in Hong Kong are Holidays designated by the Government of Hong Kong. The majority of the population in Hong Kong are descendants of migrants from Mainland China. Shopping in Hong Kong have been categorized from "social activity" to a "serious sport". Manhua ( are Chinese Comics originally produced in China. Possibly due to their greater degree of artistic freedom of expression and closer international ties The Music of Hong Kong is an eclectic mixture of traditional and popular genres Religion in Hong Kong is part and parcel of the Culture of Hong Kong. Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China 's Cantonese culture. Sports in Hong Kong, as in other countries are important part of the culture Hong Kong's highly favorable geographical position and Entrepot trading opportunities are wealth-generating assets Education in Hong Kong has a similar system to that of the United Kingdom, in particular the English education system of Hong Kong was modernized by the The Geography of Hong Kong primarily consists of three main territories Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula, and the New Territories Hong Kong began as a coastal Island geographically located in southern China. Politics of Hong Kong takes place in a framework of a political system dominated by People's Republic of China, its own legislature the Chief Executive East Asian cinema is a term used to refer to the Film industry and films produced in and/or by natives of East Asia. The Chinese-language cinema has three distinct historical threads Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China and Cinema of Taiwan. The cinema of Japan (日本映画 Korean cinema encompasses the motion picture industries of North Korea and South Korea. The Cinema of Mongolia has been strongly influenced by the Cinema of Russia, which differentiates it from cinematic developments in the rest of Asia Cinemaaustraliajpg|thumb|A movie theater in Australia ]]A movie theater, movie theatre, picture theatre or cinema is a venue Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders The Chinese-language cinema has three distinct historical threads Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China and Cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of political and economic freedom than mainland China and Taiwan, and developed into a filmmaking hub for the Chinese-speaking world (including its worldwide diaspora) and for East Asia in general. The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders Economic freedom is freedom to produce trade and consume any goods and services acquired without the use of force fraud or theft Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term synonymous with the area that is under the jurisdiction Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia. For decades, Hong Kong was the third largest motion picture industry in the world (after Indian Cinema and Hollywood) and the second largest exporter. The Indian film industry is the largest in the world in terms of ticket sales and number of films produced annually (877 feature films and 1177 short films were released in the year 2003 Despite an industry crisis starting in the mid-'90s and Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty in July 1997, Hong Kong film has retained much of its distinctive identity and continues to play a prominent part on the world cinema stage.

In the West, Hong Kong's vigorous pop cinema (especially Hong Kong action cinema) has long had a strong cult following, which has become large enough that it is now arguably a part of the cultural mainstream, widely available and imitated. Hong Kong action cinema is the reason why Hong Kong film industry 's is so well known This influence has been particularly heavy on recent Hollywood trends in the action genre. Action movies are a Film genre where action sequences such as fights, Shootouts Stunts Car chases or explosions either take precedence

Contents

The Hong Kong industry

Unlike many film industries, Hong Kong has enjoyed little to no direct government support, through either subsidies or import quotas. It is a thoroughly commercial cinema: highly corporate, concentrating on crowd-pleasing genres like comedy and action, and relying heavily on formulas, sequels and remakes. In Film theory, genre refers to the primary method of film categorization based on similarities in the narrative elements from which films are constructed In Popular culture, formula fiction is Literature in which the storylines and plots have been reused to the extent that the Narratives are predictable A sequel is a work in Literature, Film, or other media that portrays events following those of a previous work A " remake' " is a term used to described something that has been done again sometimes with better Quality, and usually with more features

Hong Kong film derives a number of elements from Hollywood, such as certain genre parameters, an ingratiating "thrill-a-minute" philosophy and fast pacing and editing. Film editing is an art of storytelling practiced by connecting two or more shots together to form a sequence, and the subsequent connecting of sequences to form an But the borrowings are filtered through elements from traditional Chinese drama and art, particularly a penchant for stylization and a disregard for Western standards of realism. Chinese Opera ( Chinese: 戏曲/戲曲 Pinyin: xìqǔ is a popular form of Drama and Musical theatre in China with roots going back Chinese art ( Chinese: 中國藝術/中国艺术 has varied throughout its ancient history, divided into periods by the ruling Dynasties of China and changing Realism in the Visual arts and Literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in Everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation This, combined with a fast and loose approach to the filmmaking process, contributes to the energy and surreal imagination that foreign audiences note in Hong Kong cinema.

The star system

As is common in commercial cinema, the industry's heart is a highly developed star system. In earlier days, beloved performers from the Chinese opera stage often brought their audiences with them to the screen. Chinese Opera ( Chinese: 戏曲/戲曲 Pinyin: xìqǔ is a popular form of Drama and Musical theatre in China with roots going back For the past three or four decades, television has been a major launching pad for movie stardom, through acting courses and widely watched drama, comedy and variety series offered by the two major stations. Television in Hong Kong has both free over the air channels and several subscription cable networks Possibly even more important is the overlap with the Cantonese pop music industry. Cantopop (Chinese 粵語流行曲 is a colloquial Portmanteau for " Cantonese popular music ". Many, if not most, movie stars have recording sidelines, and vice versa; this has been a key marketing strategy in an entertainment industry where American-style, multimedia advertising campaigns have until recently been little used (Bordwell, 2000). In the current commercially troubled climate, the casting of young Cantopop idols (such as Ekin Cheng and the Twins) to attract the all-important youth audience is endemic. Ekin Cheng Yee-Kin is a Hong Kong Actor and Cantopop Singer. Early in his career he used the name Dior (because that was what it Twins was a Hong Kong -based female Cantopop duo created in the summer of 2001 by Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG

In the small and tightly knit industry, actors (as well as other personnel, such as directors) are kept very busy. During previous boom periods, the number of movies made by a successful figure in a single year could routinely reach double digit.

Budgets

Films are typically low-budget in comparison with American product. United States cinema has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century A major release with a big star, aimed at "hit" status, will typically cost around US$5 million (Yang et al. , 1997). A low-budget feature can go well below US$1 million. Occasional blockbuster projects by the very biggest stars (Jackie Chan or Stephen Chow, for example) or international co-productions aimed at the global market, can go as high as US$20 million or more, but these are rare exceptions. This article refers to the theatrical slang term for other uses see Blockbuster (disambiguation. Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE (born Chan Kong Sang, 陳港生 on 7 April 1954 is an Actor, action choreographer, Film director Stephen Chow Sing-Chi, born June 22 1962 is a Hong Kong Scriptwriter, Film director, producer and actor Hong Kong productions can nevertheless achieve a level of gloss and lavishness greater than these numbers might suggest, given factors like lower wages, the efficient professionalism typical of behind-the-scenes personnel, and the general lack of the expensive frills that are typical on Hollywood sets.

Language and sound

Since the 1980s, films have been made mostly in the Cantonese language.

For decades, films were typically shot silent, with dialogue and all other sound dubbed afterwards. In filmmaking, dubbing or looping is the process of recording or replacing voices for a Motion picture. In the hectic and low-budget industry, this method was faster and more cost-efficient than recording live sound, particularly when using performers from different dialect regions; it also helped facilitate dubbing into other languages for the vital export market. Many busy stars would not even record their own dialogue, but would be dubbed by a lesser-known performer. Shooting without sound also contributed to an improvisatory filmmaking approach. Movies often went into production without finished scripts, with scenes and dialogue concocted on the set; especially low-budget productions on tight schedules might even have actors mouth silently or simply count numbers, with actual dialogue created only in the editing process.

A trend towards sync sound filming grew in the late '90s and this method is now the norm, partly because of a widespread public association with higher quality cinema. Sync sound (synchronized sound recording refers to sound recorded at the time of the Filming of movies and has been widely used in U

History

1909 to World War II

During its early history, Hong Kong's cinema played second fiddle to that of the mainland, particularly the city of Shanghai, which was then the movie capital of the Chinese-speaking world. Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term synonymous with the area that is under the jurisdiction Shanghai ( 上[[wikt 海|海]] is the largest city in China in terms of population and one of the largest urban areas in the world with over 20 million Very little of this work is extant: one count finds only four films remaining out of over 500 produced in Hong Kong before World War II (Fonoroff, 1997). World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Detailed accounts of this period, especially those by non-Chinese speakers, therefore have inherent limitations and uncertainties. Spoken Chinese ( comprises many regional variants the largest of which are Mandarin, Wu, Cantonese, and Min.

Pioneers from the stage

A young Lai Man-Wai in 1913 in Zhuangzi Tests His Wife credited as the first Hong Kong film
A young Lai Man-Wai in 1913 in Zhuangzi Tests His Wife credited as the first Hong Kong film

As in most of China, the development of early films was tightly bound to Chinese opera, for centuries the dominant form of dramatic entertainment. Lai Man-Wai ( Traditional Chinese: 黎民偉 Mandarin: Li Min-wei 1893-1953 now known as Father of Hong Kong Cinema, was the director Chinese Opera ( Chinese: 戏曲/戲曲 Pinyin: xìqǔ is a popular form of Drama and Musical theatre in China with roots going back Opera scenes were the source for what are generally credited as the first movies made in Hong Kong, two 1909 short comedies entitled Stealing a Roasted Duck and Right a Wrong with Earthenware Dish. Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The director was stage actor and director Liang Shaobo. The producer was an American, Benjamin Brodsky (sometimes transliterated 'Polaski'), one of a number of Westerners who helped jumpstart Chinese film through their efforts to crack China's vast potential market.

Credit for the first Hong Kong feature film is usually given to Zhuangzi Tests His Wife (1913), which also took its story from the opera stage, was helmed by a stage director and featured Brodsky's involvement. In the Film industry, a feature film is a Film made for initial distribution in theaters and being the "main attraction" of the screening Zhuangzi Tests His Wife (Traditional Chinese 莊子試妻 Zhuangzi shi qi) is a 1913 Hong Kong Drama film directed by Li Minwei Director Lai Man-Wai (Li Ming Wei or Li Minwei in Mandarin) was a theatrical colleague of Liang Shaobo's who would become known as the "Father of Hong Kong Cinema". Lai Man-Wai ( Traditional Chinese: 黎民偉 Mandarin: Li Min-wei 1893-1953 now known as Father of Hong Kong Cinema, was the director In another borrowing from opera, Lai played the role of wife himself. His brother played the role of husband, and his wife a supporting role as a maid, making her the first Chinese woman to act in a Chinese film, a milestone delayed by longstanding taboos regarding female performers (Leyda, 1972). Zhuangzhi was the only film made by Chinese American Film, founded by Lai and Brodsky as the first movie studio in Hong Kong, and was never actually shown in the territory (Stokes and Hoover, 1999).

The following year, the outbreak of World War I put a large crimp in the development of cinema in Hong Kong, as Germany was the source of the colony's film stock (Yang, 2003). World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All It was not until 1923 that Lai, his brother and their cousin joined with Liang Shaobo to form Hong Kong's first entirely Chinese-owned-and-operated production company, the Minxin (or China Sun) Company. The Minxin Film Company or "China Sun" Film Company was one of the earliest movie studios in the history of Chinese cinema In 1924, they moved their operation to the Mainland after government red tape blocked their plans to build a studio. (Teo, 1997)

The advent of sound

With the popularity of talkies in the early 1930s, China's many, mutually unintelligible, spoken dialects had to be grappled with. A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image as opposed to a Silent film. Spoken Chinese ( comprises many regional variants the largest of which are Mandarin, Wu, Cantonese, and Min. Hong Kong was a major center for Cantonese, one of the most widely spoken, and political factors on the Mainland provided other opportunities. The government of the Kuomintang or Nationalist Party wanted to enforce a "Mandarin-only" policy and was hostile to Cantonese filmmaking in China. It also banned the wildly popular wuxia genre of martial arts swordplay and fantasy, accusing it of promoting superstition and violent anarchy. Wuxia or Wǔxiá ( Mandarin ùɕiɑ̌ Hanyu Pinyin: Wǔxiá, Cantonese Pinyin: mou5 hap6 Taiwanese/Hokkien bu hiap Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for Combat. Cantonese film and wuxia film remained popular despite government hostility, and the British colony of Hong Kong became a place where both of these trends could be freely served. The name (粵語長片, Jyutping: jyut6 jyu5 coeng4 pin3*2) soon became the standard name for black and white Cantonese movies. Jyutping (sometimes spelled Jyutpin) is a Romanization system for Standard Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK

Filmed Cantonese operas proved even more successful than wuxia and constituted the leading genre of the 1930s. Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China 's Cantonese culture. Major studios that thrived in this period were Grandview, Universal, Nanyue and Tianyi (the last an early incarnation of the Shaw family dynasty that would become the most enduring and influential in Chinese film). The Shaw Brothers Studio ( Chinese 邵氏片場 owned by Shaw Brothers (HK Ltd (Teo, 1997)

The advent of war

Another important factor in the '30s was the Sino-Japanese War. The Second Sino-Japanese War ( July 7, 1937 to September 9, 1945) was a major war fought between the Republic of China and the "National defense" films - patriotic war stories about Chinese resisting the Japanese invasion - became one of Hong Kong's major genres; notable titles included Kwan Man Ching's Lifeline (1935), Chiu Shu Sun's Hand to Hand Combat (1937) and Situ Huimin's March of the Partisans (1938). A lifeline is a line or Rope used to support a person who is in physical difficulty or to prevent someone from getting into physical difficulty The genre and the film industry were further boosted by emigre film artists and companies when Shanghai was taken by the Japanese in 1937.

This of course came to an end when Hong Kong itself fell to the Japanese in December 1941. Hong Kong began as a coastal Island geographically located in southern China. But unlike on the Mainland, the occupiers were not able to put together a collaborationist film industry. They managed to complete just one propaganda movie, The Attack on Hong Kong (1942; aka The Day of England's Collapse) before the British returned in 1945 (Teo, 1997). A more important move by the Japanese may have been to melt down many of Hong Kong's pre-war films to extract their silver nitrate for military use (Fonoroff, 1997). Silver nitrate also known as lunar caustic is a soluble Chemical compound with Chemical formula Ag[[Nitrogen N]] O 3

The 1940s-1960s

Postwar Hong Kong cinema, like postwar Hong Kong industries in general, was catalyzed by the continuing influx of capital and talents from Mainland China. This became a flood with the 1946 resumption of the Chinese Civil War (which had been on hold during the fight against Japan) and then the 1949 Communist victory. The Communist Party of China ( CPC) ( also known as the Chinese Communist Party ( CCP) is the founding and ruling political party of the These events definitively shifted the center of Chinese-language cinema to Hong Kong. The colony also did big business exporting films to Southeast Asian countries (especially but not exclusively their large Chinese expatriate communities) and to Chinatowns in Western countries (Bordwell, 2000). An expatriate (in abbreviated form expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing A Chinatown is a section of an urban area with a large number of Chinese outside the majority-Chinese countries of Greater China.

Competing languages

The postwar era also cemented the bifurcation of the industry into two parallel cinemas, one in Mandarin, the dominant dialect of the Mainland emigres, and one in Cantonese, the dialect of most Hong Kong natives. Mandarin movies had much higher budgets and more lavish production. Reasons included their enormous export market; the expertise, capital and prestige of the Shanghai filmmakers; and the cultural prestige of Mandarin, the official language of China and the tongue of the Chinese cultural and political elite. For decades to come, Cantonese films, though sometimes more numerous, were relegated to second-tier status (Leyda, 1972).

Another language-related milestone occurred in 1963: the British authorities passed a law requiring the subtitling of all films in English, supposedly to enable a watch on political content. Subtitles are textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs usually displayed at the bottom of the screen Making a virtue of necessity, studios included Chinese subtitles as well, enabling easier access to their movies for speakers of other dialects. (Yang, 2003) Subtitling later had the unintended consequence of facilitating the movies' popularity in the West. Unintended consequences are outcomes that are not (or not limited to what the actor intended in a particular situation

Cantonese movies

During this period, Cantonese opera on film dominated. Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China 's Cantonese culture. The top stars were the female duo of Yam Kim Fai and Pak Suet Sin (Yam-Pak for short). Yam Kim Fai (Chinese 任劍輝 ( December 29, 1912 &ndash November 29, 1989) was a famous Cantonese opera actress in China Yam specialized in male scholar roles to Pak's female leads. They made over fifty films together, The Purple Hairpin (1959) being one of the most enduringly popular (Teo, 1997).

Low-budget martial arts films were also popular. For other uses see Martial arts (disambiguation Martial arts film is a Film genre that originated in the Pacific Rim. A series of roughly 100 kung fu movies starring Kwan Tak Hing as historical folk hero Wong Fei Hung were made, starting with The True Story of Wong Fei Hung (1949) and ending with Wong Fei Hung Bravely Crushing the Fire Formation (1970) (Logan, 1995). Kung fu and wushu are popular terms that have become synonymous with Chinese Martial arts. Kwan Tak Hing, MBE ( 27 June 1905 - 28 June 1996) was an actor who played the role of Martial artist Wong Fei Hong Fantasy wuxia (swordplay) serials with special effects drawn on the film by hand, such as The Six-Fingered Lord of the Lute (1965) starring teen idol Connie Chan Po-chu in the lead male role, were also popular (Chute and Lim, 2003, 3), as were contemporary melodramas of home and family life. Wuxia or Wǔxiá ( Mandarin ùɕiɑ̌ Hanyu Pinyin: Wǔxiá, Cantonese Pinyin: mou5 hap6 Taiwanese/Hokkien bu hiap Connie Chan Po-chu was born in 1947 in Guangdong, China to impoverished parents and at least 8 other siblings Melodrama refers to theatre in which music is used to increase the spectator's emotional response or to suggest character types

Mandarin movies and the Shaws/Cathay rivalry

In Mandarin production, Shaw Brothers and Motion Picture and General Investments Limited (MP&GI, later renamed Cathay) were the top studios by the 1960s, and bitter rivals. The Shaw Brothers Studio ( Chinese 邵氏片場 owned by Shaw Brothers (HK Ltd Cathay Organisation Holdings Limited is one of Singapore's leading leisure and entertainment groups The Shaws gained the upper hand in 1964 after the death in a plane crash of MP&GI founder and head Loke Wan Tho. Loke Wan Tho ( 1915&ndash1964 born in Kuala Lumpur (now in Malaysia) was a cinema magnate Ornithologist, and Photographer. The renamed Cathay faltered, ceasing film production in 1970 (Yang, 2003).

A musical genre called Huángméidiào (黃梅調) was derived from Chinese opera; the Shaws' record-breaking hit The Love Eterne (1963) remains the classic of the genre. Huangmei opera or Huangmei tone (黃梅戲 or 黃梅調 Pinyin: Huángméixì or Huángméidiào originated as a form of Rural folksong and dance that Chinese Opera ( Chinese: 戏曲/戲曲 Pinyin: xìqǔ is a popular form of Drama and Musical theatre in China with roots going back Eternal Love ( is a 1963 Hong Kong Musical film of the Huangmei Opera genre directed by Li Han-Hsiang. Historical costume epics often overlapped with the Huángméidiào, such as in The Kingdom and the Beauty (1959). (Both of the above examples were directed by Shaw's star director, Li Han Hsiang). Richard Li Han Hsiang (李翰祥 7 March 1926 in Jinxi, China - 17 December 1996 in Beijing, China was Romantic melodramas such as Red Bloom in the Snow (1956), Love Without End (1961), The Blue and the Black (1964) and adaptations of novels by Chiung Yao were popular. Chiung Yao (Wade-Giles system romanization or Qiong Yao (Pinyin romanization ( Traditional Chinese: 瓊瑤 Simplified Chinese: 琼瑶 qióngyáo (born So were Hollywood-style musicals, which were a particular specialty of MP&GI/Cathay in entries such as Mambo Girl (1957) and The Wild, Wild Rose (1960). The musical film is a Film genre in which several Songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative

In the second half of the '60s, the Shaws inaugurated a new generation of more intense, less fantastical wuxia films with glossier production values, acrobatic moves and stronger violence. Wuxia or Wǔxiá ( Mandarin ùɕiɑ̌ Hanyu Pinyin: Wǔxiá, Cantonese Pinyin: mou5 hap6 Taiwanese/Hokkien bu hiap The trend was inspired by the popularity of imported samurai movies from Japan (Chute and Lim, 2003, 8), as well as by the loss of movie audiences to television. is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial Japan. This marked the crucial turn of the industry from a female-centric genre system to an action movie orientation (see also the Hong Kong action cinema article). Hong Kong action cinema is the reason why Hong Kong film industry 's is so well known Key trendsetters included Xu Zenghong's Temple of the Red Lotus (1965), King Hu's Come Drink with Me (1966) and Dragon Inn (1967, made in Taiwan; aka Dragon Gate Inn), and Chang Cheh's Tiger Boy (1966), The One-Armed Swordsman (1967) and Golden Swallow (1968). King Hu ( April 29, 1931 - January 14, 1997) was a Hong Kong and Taiwan -based Chinese Film director Come Drink with Me ( literally Big Drunken Hero) is a 1966 martial arts - action film directed by King Hu. Dragon Gate Inn ( TC: 龍門客棧 SC: 龙门客栈 Pinyin: Lóng mén kè zhàn) also known as Dragon Inn, is a Dragon Gate Inn ( TC: 龍門客棧 SC: 龙门客栈 Pinyin: Lóng mén kè zhàn) also known as Dragon Inn, is a Chang Cheh ( ( February 10, 1923 &ndash June 22, 2002) was Shaw Brothers Studio 's best known and most prolific film director One-Armed Swordsman ( is a 1967 Shaw Brothers Studio Hong Kong Wuxia film

Years of transformation (1970s)

Mandarin-dialect film in general and the Shaw Brothers studio in particular began the 1970s in apparent positions of unassailable strength. Cantonese cinema virtually vanished in the face of Mandarin studios and Cantonese television, which became available to the general population in 1967; in 1972 no films in the local dialect were made (Bordwell, 2000). The Shaws saw their longtime rival Cathay ceasing film production, leaving themselves the only megastudio. The martial arts subgenre of the kung fu movie exploded into popularity internationally, with the Shaws driving and dominating the wave. Kung fu and wushu are popular terms that have become synonymous with Chinese Martial arts. But changes were beginning that would greatly alter the industry by the end of the decade.

The Cantonese comeback

Paradoxically, television would soon contribute to the revival of Cantonese in a movement towards more down-to-earth movies about modern Hong Kong life and average people.

The first spark was the ensemble comedy The House of 72 Tenants, the only Cantonese film made in 1973, but a resounding hit. The House of 72 Tenants (七十二家房客 is a 1973 Hong Kong film directed by Chor Yuen. It was based on a well-known play and produced by the Shaws as a showcase for performers from their pioneering television station TVB (Yang, 2003). Television Broadcasts Limited ( commonly known as TVB, was the first over-the-air commercial Television station in Hong Kong.

The return of Cantonese really took off with the comedies of former TVB stars the Hui Brothers (actor-director-screenwriter Michael Hui, actor-singer Sam Hui and actor Ricky Hui). Michael Hui Koon-Man ( Chinese 許冠文 Jyutping: heoi2 gun3 man4 Pinyin: Xǔ Guànwén (born September 3, 1942) is a Samuel Hui Koon-kit, usually known as Sam Hui, is best known for being a star in the Cantopop and movie industry in Hong Kong 's from the 1960s Ricky Hui Koon-Ying ( Chinese 許冠英 Jyutping: heoi2 gun3 jing1 Pinyin: Xǔ Guànyīng] is a Hong Kong movie star in the 1970s The rationale behind the move to Cantonese was clear in the trailer for the brothers' Games Gamblers Play (1974): "Films by devoted young people with you in mind. Games Gamblers Play ( is a 1974 Hong Kong Film directed by Michael Hui. " This move back to the local audience for Hong Kong cinema paid off immediately. Games Gamblers Play initially made US$1. 4 million at the Hong Kong box office, becoming the highest grossing film up to that point, even beating such favourites as the (Mandarin) films of worldwide kung fu superstar Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee ( November 27 1940 – July 20 1973 was an American-born Martial artist, Philosopher, instructor, Martial arts actor and the The Hui movies also broke ground by satirizing the modern reality of an ascendant middle class, whose long work hours and dreams of material success were transforming the colony into a modern industrial and corporate giant (Teo, 1997). Cantonese comedy thrived and Cantonese production skyrocketed; Mandarin hung on into the early '80s, but has been relatively rare onscreen since.

Golden Harvest and the rise of the independents

In 1970, former Shaw Brothers executives Raymond Chow and Leonard Ho left to form their own studio, Golden Harvest. Raymond Chow Man-Wai is a Hong Kong Film producer, and Presenter. Golden Harvest ( is a Film production distribution and exhibition Company based in Hong Kong. The upstart's more flexible and less tightfisted approach to the business outmaneuvered the Shaws' old-style studio. Chow and Ho landed contracts with rising young performers who had fresh ideas for the industry, like Bruce Lee and the Hui Brothers, and allowed them greater creative latitude than was traditional. Bruce Lee ( November 27 1940 – July 20 1973 was an American-born Martial artist, Philosopher, instructor, Martial arts actor and the By the end of the '70s, Golden Harvest was the top studio, signing up Jackie Chan, the kung fu comedy actor-filmmaker who would spend the next twenty years as Asia's biggest box office draw (Chan and Yang, 1998, pp. Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE (born Chan Kong Sang, 陳港生 on 7 April 1954 is an Actor, action choreographer, Film director 164-165; Bordwell, 2000).

Meanwhile, the explosions of Cantonese and kung fu and the example of Golden Harvest had created more space for independent producers and production companies. The era of the studio juggernauts was past. The Shaws nevertheless continued film production until 1985 before turning entirely to television (Teo, 1997).

Other transformative trends

The rapidly growing permissiveness in film content that was general in much of the world affected Hong Kong film as well. A genre of softcore erotica known as fengyue became a local staple (the name is a contraction of a Chinese phrase implying seductive decadence). Erotica (from the Greek Eros —"desire" or "curiosa" works of art including literature, photography film sculpture Such material did not suffer as much of a stigma in Hong Kong as in most Western countries; it was more or less part of the mainstream, sometimes featuring contributions from major directors such as Chor Yuen and Li Han Hsiang and often crossbreeding with other popular genres like martial arts, the costume film and especially comedy (Teo, 1997; Yang, 2003). Chor Yuen (楚原 (born 1934 is a Hong Kong based film director scriptwriter and actor Richard Li Han Hsiang (李翰祥 7 March 1926 in Jinxi, China - 17 December 1996 in Beijing, China was A costume drama is a Period piece in which elaborate Costumes Sets and properties are featured in order to capture the ambience of a particular Violence also grew more intense and graphic, particularly at the instigation of martial arts filmmakers.

Director Lung Kong blended these trends into the social-issue dramas which he had already made his specialty with late '60s Cantonese classics like The Story of a Discharged Prisoner (1967) and Teddy Girls (1969). In the '70s, he began directing in Mandarin and brought exploitation elements to serious films about subjects like prostitution (The Call Girls and Lina), the atomic bomb (Hiroshima 28) and the fragility of civilized society (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, which portrayed a plague-decimated, near-future Hong Kong). Exploitation film is a type of film that eschews the expense of quality productions in favor of making films inexpensively attracting viewers by exciting their more prurient interests The Call-Girls A Tragi-Comedy with Prologue and Epilogue is a novel (ISBN 0-09-112550-2 by Arthur Koestler. Yesterday Today and Tomorrow ( Ieri oggi domani) is a Comedy film by Italian director Vittorio de Sica. (Teo, 1997)

The brief career of Tang Shu Shuen, the territory's first noted woman director, produced two films, The Arch (1970) and China Behind (1974), that were trailblazers for a local, socially critical art cinema. Tang Shu Shuen ( Traditional Chinese: 唐書璇(aka Shu Shuen or Cecile Tang Shu Shuen (born 1941 is a former Hong Kong film director The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is located in St Louis Missouri near An Art film (also called an “art cinema” “art movie” or in the U They are also widely considered forerunners of the last major milestone of the decade, the so-called Hong Kong New Wave that would come from outside the traditional studio hierarchy and point to new possibilities for the industry (Bordwell, 2000). The Hong Kong New Wave was a blanket term applied to a number of young groundbreaking Hong Kong filmmakers of the late 1970s and 1980s many trained in overseas film programs

1980s-early 1990s: the boom years

The 1980s and early '90s saw seeds planted in the '70s come to full flower: the triumph of Cantonese, the birth of a new and modern cinema, superpower status in the East Asian market, and the turning of the West's attention to Hong Kong film.

A cinema of greater technical polish and more sophisticated visual style, including the first forays into up-to-date special effects technology, sprang up quickly. The illusions used in the Film, Television, Theater, or Entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called To this surface dazzle, the new cinema added an eclectic mixing and matching of genres, and a penchant for pushing the boundaries of sensationalistic content. Slapstick comedy, sex, the supernatural, and above all action (of both the martial arts and cops-and-criminals varieties) ruled, occasionally all in the same film. Slapstick is a type of Comedy involving exaggerated physical violence or activities which exceed the boundaries of common sense such as a character being hit in the face with Hong Kong action cinema is the reason why Hong Kong film industry 's is so well known For other uses see Martial arts (disambiguation Martial arts film is a Film genre that originated in the Pacific Rim.

The international market

During this period, the Hong Kong industry was one of the few in the world that thrived in the face of the increasing global dominance of Hollywood. Indeed, it came to exert a comparable dominance in its own region of the world. The regional audience had always been vital, but now more than ever Hong Kong product filled theaters and video shelves in places like Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea. The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj Singapore For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː Taiwan became at least as important a market to Hong Kong film as the local one; in the early '90s the once-robust Taiwanese film industry came close to extinction under the onslaught of Hong Kong imports (Bordwell, 2000). Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia. The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China and Cinema of Taiwan. They even found a lesser foothold in Japan, with its own highly developed and better-funded cinema and strong taste for American movies; Jackie Chan in particular became popular there. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The cinema of Japan (日本映画 Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE (born Chan Kong Sang, 陳港生 on 7 April 1954 is an Actor, action choreographer, Film director

Almost accidentally, Hong Kong also reached further into the West, building upon the attention gained during the '70s kung fu craze. Availability in Chinatown theaters and video shops allowed the movies to be discovered by Western film cultists attracted by their "exotic" qualities and excesses. A Chinatown is a section of an urban area with a large number of Chinese outside the majority-Chinese countries of Greater China. A cult film is a Film that has acquired a highly devoted but relatively small group of fans. An emergence into the wider popular culture gradually followed over the coming years.

Leaders of the boom

The trailblazer was production company Cinema City, founded in 1980 by comedians Karl Maka, Raymond Wong and Dean Shek. Karl Maka (Chinese: 麥嘉 is a popular Hong Kong producer, director, Actor and Presenter. Raymond Wong Bak-Ming ( (born 1948 is a Hong Kong Actor, Film director, producer, Scriptwriter and Presenter. It specialized in contemporary comedy and action, slickly produced according to explicitly prescribed commercial formulas. The lavish, effects-filled spy spoof Aces Go Places (1982) and its numerous sequels epitomized the much-imitated "Cinema City style. Aces Go Places, ( also known in the United States as Diamondfinger or Mad Mission 1, is a 1982 Hong Kong action " (Yang, 2003)

Directors and producers Tsui Hark and Wong Jing can be singled out as definitive figures of this era. ( 徐) Tsui Hark, born Tsui Man-Kong (徐文光 on February 15, 1950, is a New Wave Film director in Hong Kong Tsui was a notorious Hong Kong New Wave tyro who symbolized that movement's absorption into the mainstream, becoming the industry's central trendsetter and technical experimenter (Yang et al. The Hong Kong New Wave was a blanket term applied to a number of young groundbreaking Hong Kong filmmakers of the late 1970s and 1980s many trained in overseas film programs , 1997, p. 75). The even more prolific Wong is, by most accounts, the most commercially successful and critically reviled Hong Kong filmmaker of the last two decades, with his relentless output of aggressively crowd-pleasing and cannily marketed pulp films.

Other hallmarks of this era included the gangster or "Triad" movie fad launched by director John Woo, producer and long-time actor Alan Tang and dominated by actor Chow Yun-Fat; romantic melodramas and martial arts fantasies starring Brigitte Lin; the comedies of stars like Cherie Chung and Stephen Chow; and contemporary, stunt-driven kung fu action epitomized by the work of Jackie Chan. Triad ( also known as) is a term that describes many branches of Chinese underground society and/or organizations based in Hong Kong and Macau and also John Woo Yu-Sen (born May 1, 1946) is an internationally and critically acclaimed Chinese Film director and producer. Alan Tang Kwong-Wing is a former Hong Kong Film Actor, film producer and director. Chow Yun-Fat SBS ( born May 18, 1955) is a Chinese Actor. He is one of the most famous actors in Asia and a Brigitte Lin ( or Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia (born November 3 1954) is a Taiwanese actress Cherie Chung Chor-hung ( born February 16 1960) is a Hong Kong film actress in the 1980s Stephen Chow Sing-Chi, born June 22 1962 is a Hong Kong Scriptwriter, Film director, producer and actor A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or any act requiring a special skill performed for artistic purposes in TV, Theatre, or cinema Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE (born Chan Kong Sang, 陳港生 on 7 April 1954 is an Actor, action choreographer, Film director

Category III films

The government's introduction of a film ratings system in 1988 had a certainly unintended effect on subsequent trends. The Hong Kong motion picture rating system ( is a legal system of movie screening and rating. The "Category III" (adults only) rating became an umbrella for the rapid growth of pornographic and generally outré films; however, while considered graphic by Chinese standards, these films would be more on par with movies rated "R" or "NC-17" in the United States, and not "XXX". Pornography or porn is the explicit depiction of Sexual subject matter with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer By the height of the boom in the early '90s, roughly half of the theatrical features produced were Category III-rated softcore erotica descended from the fengyue movies of the '70s. (Yang, 2003) A definitive example of a mainstream Category III hit was Michael Mak's Sex and Zen (1991), a period comedy inspired by The Carnal Prayer Mat, the seventeenth century classic of comic-erotic literature by Li Yu (Dannen and Long, 1997). Sex and Zen (traditional Chinese 玉蒲團之偷情寶鑑 Yu Pu Tuan Zhi Tou Qing Bao Qian) is a 1992 Hong Kong Erotic film / " Period piece " is phrase that is used to describe creative works Li Yu ( given name Xianlu 仙侣 style name Liweng 笠翁 (1610—1680 was a Chinese playwright novelist and publisher

The rating also covered a fad for grisly, taboo-tweaking exploitation and horror films, often supposedly based on true crime stories, such as Dr. Exploitation film is a type of film that eschews the expense of quality productions in favor of making films inexpensively attracting viewers by exciting their more prurient interests Horror films are Movies that strive to elicit Fear, Horror and terror responses from viewers Lamb (1992), The Untold Story (1993) and Ebola Syndrome (1996). The Untold Story ( is a 1993 Hong Kong film directed by co-star Danny Lee and Herman Yau and starring Anthony Wong. Ebola Syndrome (Yibo la beng duk is a 1996 Hong Kong exploitation film starring Anthony Wong and directed by Herman Yau.

Since the mid-'90s, the trend has withered with the shrinking of the general Hong Kong film market and the wider availability of pornography in home video formats (Bordwell, 2000). But in 2000's, three Category III movies: Election its sequel, Election 2 (aka Triad Election), and Mad Detective still enjoyed surprising box office successes in Hong Kong. Election ( Literal Title Black Society, a common Cantonese reference to the society of Triads) is a 2005 Hong Kong Election 2 ( Literal Title Black Society 2 Value Peace Most) also known as Triad Election in the United States Mad Detective ( is a 2007 Hong Kong crime thriller film produced and directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai

Alternative cinema

In this landscape of pulp, there remained some ground for an alternative cinema or art cinema, due at least in part to the influence of the New Wave. An Art film (also called an “art cinema” “art movie” or in the U The Hong Kong New Wave was a blanket term applied to a number of young groundbreaking Hong Kong filmmakers of the late 1970s and 1980s many trained in overseas film programs Some New Wave filmmakers such as Ann Hui and Yim Ho continued to earn acclaim with personal and political films made at the edges of the mainstream. Ann Hui On-Wah ( 許鞍華, Pinyin: Xǔ Ānhuá, Hepburn: Kyo Anka) born May 23, 1947 to a Chinese Yim Ho (嚴浩 is one of the most famous Hong Kong directors of the 1980s and a leader of Hong Kong New Wave.

The second half of the '80s also saw the emergence of what is sometimes called a "Second Wave. " These younger directors included names like Stanley Kwan, Clara Law and her partner Eddie Fong, Mabel Cheung, Lawrence Ah Mon and Wong Kar-wai. Stanley Kwan ( born October 9, 1957) is a Hong Kong Film director and producer. Clara Law (羅卓瑤 (born May 29, 1957 in Macau) is a Hong Kong Film director, now having relocated to Australia before Mabel Cheung (張婉婷 (born November 17 1950) is one of the leading Film directors in Hong Kong. Lawrence Ah Mon or Lawrence Lau Kwok Cheong (劉國昌 (born 1949) is a South African-born Hong Kong film director Like the New Wavers, they tended to be graduates of overseas film schools and local television apprenticeships, and to be interested in going beyond the usual, commercial subject matters and styles (Teo, 1997).

These artists began to earn Hong Kong unprecedented attention and respect in international critical circles and the global film festival circuit. Film review redirects here for the similar sounding Film revue please visit Revue#Film revues. A film festival is the presentation or showcasing of Films in one or more Movie theaters or screening venues In particular, Wong Kar-wai's works starring Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Maggie Cheung in the 1990s has made him an internationally acclaimed and award-winning filmmaker. Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing ( September 12, 1956 – April 1, 2003) nicknamed elder brother (哥哥 was an Actor and Musician Tony Leung Chiu-Wai ( born June 27, 1962) is a Cannes Film Festival and 5 times Hong Kong Film Award -winning Hong Kong Maggie Cheung ( born September 20, 1964) is a Cannes Best Actress, Berlin Best Actress, six-time Hong Kong Film Award

Mid-1990s-Present: Post-boom

The industry in crisis

During the 1990s, the Hong Kong film industry underwent a drastic decline from which it has not recovered. Domestic ticket sales had already started to drop in the late '80s, but the regional audience kept the industry booming into the early years of the next decade (Teo, 1997). But by the mid-'90s, it went into freefall. Revenues were cut in half. By the decade's end, the number of films produced in a typical year dropped from an early '90s high of well over 200 to somewhere around 100 (it should be noted, however, that a large part of this reduction was in the "Category III" softcore pornography area [Bordwell, 2000]. ) American blockbuster imports began to regularly top the box office for the first time in decades. Ironically, this was the same period during which Hong Kong cinema emerged into something like mainstream visibility in the U. S. and began exporting popular figures to Hollywood.

Numerous, converging factors have been blamed for the downturn:

The greater access to the Mainland that came with the July '97 handover to China was not as much of a boon as hoped, and presented its own problems, particularly with regard to censorship. The transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, often referred to as the Handover

The industry had one of its darkest years in 2003. In addition to the continuing slump, a SARS virus outbreak kept many theaters virtually empty for a time and shut down film production for four months; only fifty-four movies were made (Li, 2004). The unrelated deaths of two of Hong Kong's famous singer/actors, Leslie Cheung, 46, and Anita Mui, 40, rounded out the bad news. Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing ( September 12, 1956 – April 1, 2003) nicknamed elder brother (哥哥 was an Actor and Musician Anita Mui Yim-fong ( October 10, 1963 - December 30, 2003) was a popular Hong Kong Singer and Actress.

The Hong Kong Government in April 2003 introduced a Film Guarantee Fund as an incentive to local banks to become involved in the motion picture industry. The guarantee operates to secure a percentage of monies loaned by banks to film production companies. The Fund has received a mixed reception from industry participants, and less than enthusiastic reception from financial institutions who perceive investment in local films as high risk ventures with little collateral. Film guarantee legal documents commissioned by the Hong Kong Government in late April 2003 are based on Canadian documents, which have limited relevance to the local industry.

Recent trends

Andy Lau at a film interview
Andy Lau at a film interview

Efforts by local filmmakers to retool their product have had middling results overall. Not to be confused with film director Andrew Lau. Andy Lau Tak-Wah MH, JP (born September 27 1961 is a Hong Kong These include technically glossier visuals, including much digital imagery; greater use of Hollywood-style mass marketing techniques; and heavy reliance on casting teen-friendly Cantopop music stars. Computer animation Computer-generated imagery (also known as CGI) is the application of the field of Computer graphics or more specifically 3D computer graphics Cantopop (Chinese 粵語流行曲 is a colloquial Portmanteau for " Cantonese popular music ". Successful genre cycles in the late '90s and early 2000s have included: American-styled, high-tech action pictures such as Downtown Torpedoes (1997), Gen-X Cops and Purple Storm (both '99); the "Triad kids" subgenre launched by Young and Dangerous (1996); yuppie-centric romantic comedies like The Truth About Jane and Sam (1999), Needing You... (2000) and Love on a Diet (2001); and supernatural chillers like Horror Hotline: Big-Head Monster (2001) and The Eye (2002), often modeled on the Japanese horror films then making an international splash. Purple Storm may refer to Operation Purple Storm, a series of US Military exercises in Panama in 1989 Purple Storm (film, a 1999 Hong Triad ( also known as) is a term that describes many branches of Chinese underground society and/or organizations based in Hong Kong and Macau and also Young and Dangerous ( is a 1996 Hong Kong film about a group of triad members detailing their adventures and dangers in a Hong Kong The term yuppie (short for " young urban professional The Truth About Jane and Sam ( Chinese: 真心話 Simplified Chinese: 真心话 is a Hong Kong film co-produced by Hong Kong's Film Unlimited Needing You ( is a 2000 Hong Kong Romantic comedy film, produced and directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai and starring J-Horror is a term used to refer to Japanese contributions to Horror fiction in popular culture

In the 2000s, there have been some bright spots. Milkyway Image, founded by filmmakers Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai in the mid-'90s, has had considerable critical and commercial success, especially with offbeat and character-driven crime films like The Mission (2000) and Running on Karma (2003). Milkyway Image (HK Ltd ( also known in short form as Milkyway Image ( is a Hong Kong Independent film Production company. Johnnie To Kei-Fung, born April 22, 1955 is a Hong Kong Film director and producer. Wai Ka-Fai is a Hong Kong Film director, Writer and producer. The Mission ( is a 1999 Hong Kong action film produced and directed Johnnie To, and starring Anthony Wong, Francis Running on Karma ( also known as An Intelligent Muscle Man, is a 2003 Hong Kong film, produced and directed by Johnnie To An even more successful example of the genre was the blockbuster Infernal Affairs trilogy (2002-2003) of police thrillers co-directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak (the Oscar winning movie, The Departed, was based on this movie). Infernal Affairs ( is a 2002 Hong Kong crime - thriller film directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. Not to be confused with singer and actor Andy Lau. Andrew Lau Wai-Keung ( born April 4, 1960) is a Hong Kong Alan Mak Siu-Fai ( born on January 1, 1965 in Hong Kong, is a Writer, director, Actor and producer. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. The Departed is a 2006 crime thriller Film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Comedian Stephen Chow, the most consistently popular screen star of the '90s, directed and starred in Shaolin Soccer (2001) and Kung Fu Hustle (2004); these used digital special effects to push his distinctive humor into new realms of the surreal and became the territory's two highest-grossing films to date, garnering numerous awards locally and internationally. Stephen Chow Sing-Chi, born June 22 1962 is a Hong Kong Scriptwriter, Film director, producer and actor Shaolin Soccer ( is a 2001 Hong Kong comedy Film co-written and directed by Stephen Chow, who also stars in the film Kung Fu Hustle ( is a 2004 Hong Kong martial arts Comedy film co-written co-produced directed by and starring Stephen Chow Johnnie To's two Category III movies: Election and Election 2 also enjoyed Hong Kong box office successes. Johnnie To Kei-Fung, born April 22, 1955 is a Hong Kong Film director and producer. Election ( Literal Title Black Society, a common Cantonese reference to the society of Triads) is a 2005 Hong Kong Election 2 ( Literal Title Black Society 2 Value Peace Most) also known as Triad Election in the United States Election 2 has even been released in the US theatrically under the new title Triad Election; this movie received very positive reviews in the United States, with a more than 90% "Fresh" rating on Rottentomatoes.com . Election 2 ( Literal Title Black Society 2 Value Peace Most) also known as Triad Election in the United States The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Election 2 ( Literal Title Black Society 2 Value Peace Most) also known as Triad Election in the United States

Still, some observers believe that, given the depressed state of the industry and the rapidly strengthening economic and political ties among Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan, the distinctive entity of Hong Kong cinema that emerged after World War II may have a limited lifespan. The lines between the mainland and Hong Kong industries are ever more blurred, especially now that China is producing increasing numbers of slick, mass-appeal popular films. Predictions are notoriously difficult in this rapidly changing part of the world, but the trend may be towards a more pan-Chinese cinema, as existed in the first half of the twentieth century.

Notable persons

Directors

Cinematographers

Actors

Actresses

See also

Film awards:

Festivals:

References

External links

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