Before delving into the selection of films chosen for the 31st edition of FICA, let's review some key dates in the history of Hong Kong cinema:

From 1909 to 1945, of the 500 films produced during this period, only four have survived the ravages of time. Many were film adaptations of Chinese operas, such as the first Hong Kong film shot in 1913, Lai Man-wai's Zhuangzi Tests His Wife. 1923 saw the establishment of the Minxin company, the first Chinese production company in Hong Kong, then a British colony.

Talking pictures appeared in the early 1930s. This raised the question of the language of these films: Cantonese, Mandarin, or southern Chinese dialects? Swashbuckling films, the Wu Xia Pian, emerged but did not dethrone filmed Chinese operas, which remained very popular.

The first studios were established, notably that of the Show family, which would later become dominant.

The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) impacted Hong Kong, which was conquered by the Japanese in 1941. Many Hong Kong films were melted down by the Japanese to extract silver nitrate. The memory of Hong Kong cinema was thus destroyed.

The civil war (1927-1950), between supporters of the Kuomintang, the nationalist party, and the Chinese Communist Party, raged in the mainland. Many filmmakers fled Shanghai to seek refuge in Hong Kong. Two cinemas developed in parallel: one in Mandarin, more elitist, and the other in Cantonese, more popular.

In 1963, the British legislated that all films in English must be subtitled. This measure will actually facilitate the export of Hong Kong films abroad, particularly to Western countries.

Two major studios are vying for market share: Shaw Brothers and Motion Picture and General Investments Ltd., which will later be renamed Cathay and cease production in 1970. These two studios mark the golden age of musicals, romantic melodramas, and martial arts films. Among them are two great directors with contrasting styles: Chang Cheh, who emphasizes action and violence, and King Hu, more intellectual, steeped in the culture of Chinese scholars and Peking Opera.

In the 1970s, Shaw Brothers reigned supreme, mandating the use of Mandarin in films, especially action films. Karate films will conquer the global market. However, Cantonese-language cinema will resurface with social comedies featuring the people of Hong Kong. Despite this diversification in language and genre, Show Brothers ceased film production in 1985, defeated by competition from Golden Harvest, founded in 1970 by Raymond Chow and Leonard Ho. This company had the stroke of genius to sign Bruce Lee in 1971, and then, at the end of the decade, Jackie Chan, guaranteeing it the top spot at the Asian box office for 20 years.

In the 1980s, independent studios emerged, giving rise to the Fengyue genre—softcore erotic films—as well as socially conscious films, precursors to the Hong Kong New Wave, thus giving birth to a modern cinema. Tsui Hark became a key producer-director in the 1980s. The gangster film genre, featuring the triads, was launched by John Woo.

To bring order to this burgeoning and ambitious film industry, the Hong Kong government established a film classification system. Category one films are suitable for all ages, category two films are not suitable for children, and category three films are restricted to those 18 and older, including erotic, horror, and violent films. In 1995, the Hong Kong government introduced a subdivision within category two: IIA for films unsuitable for children and IIB for those unsuitable for young people and children.

Artistic alternative cinema has found success thanks to the undeniable talent of director Ann Hui, as well as that of Stanley Kwan and Wong Kar-wai. The latter is the most admired, awarded, respected, and acclaimed director among critics, international film festivals, and audiences.

The handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997 triggered a crisis in the film industry due to censorship. This was compounded by the Asian financial crisis, the SARS epidemic, changing cultural consumption habits, and the deaths of two major stars, Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui, in 2003. That same year, to address the crisis in the film industry, the Hong Kong government established a guarantee fund, encouraging banks to support the film sector. Little by little, the Hong Kong film industry is holding its own, even though many filmmakers have left for Hollywood, such as Jackie Chan, John Woo, Yuen Woo-ping, and Cheung-yan Yuen. The "A Look at Hong Kong Cinema" section, presented at the 31st Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema, does not aim to encompass the entire history of Hong Kong cinema, from the first film, Lai Man Wai's 1913 adaptation of a Chinese opera, Zhuangzi Tests His Wife, to the present day.

This section comprises some twenty films highlighting Hong Kong's cinematic landscape, which at several points in its history has held the position of third-largest film producer in the world, alongside Bollywood and Hollywood.

The coherence of the choice of these films can be explained if it is placed in the perspective of previous selections at the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinemas. Over the last thirty years, FICA has showcased around fifty Hong Kong films in its competitive sections, both fiction and documentary, thematic or as tributes, in various genres. The public was able to discover films by King Hu, Fruit Chan, Peter Ho Sun-chan, Andrew Lau, Vivian Qu, and many others: Hing Siu-tung, Law Chi-leung, Alan Mak, Poon Man-kit, Toe Yuen, Yau Nai-hoi, Ronny Yu, Flora Lau, Lee Kung Lok, Yin Liang... and, of course, Johnnie To, Tsui Hark, John Woo, not forgetting those of the grande dame of Hong Kong cinema, director Ann Hui... nor those of the romantic gentleman of Hong Kong cinema, the very sensitive Stanley Kwan, and those of the master Wong Kar-wai. The aim of this selection is to showcase the diverse cinematic faces of Hong Kong. Alongside the auteur films shown primarily at festivals, there are so-called "neighborhood cinema" films or blockbusters produced in very large numbers, aimed at the simple entertainment of a wide audience.

She proposes going back in time, choosing to begin this retrospective with Lo Wei's The Big Boss, made in 1971, a seminal film in the Bruce Lee myth, in which he made his first screen appearance as a leading actor. This kung fu film put Hong Kong on the world cinema map. It also played a significant role in the fascination of Western youth with this combat sport from the Far East. More than a sport, this "way of the hand" is a way of life, a code of honor.

Ann Hui's Boat People (1982) revisits the trauma experienced by Vietnamese society following the victory of the communist forces of the North and the Viet Cong guerrillas over the Republicans of the South, abandoned by the Americans, during the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. Two million boat people fled the country, 400,000 of them tragically dying at sea on overcrowded boats, victims of pirates, storms, and unscrupulous smugglers. Many attempted to reach the British colony of Hong Kong using makeshift boats. This tragedy of contemporary history inevitably resonated with Ann Hui, director of the Vietnam Trilogy, of which Boat People is the third installment.

In her 1984 film Love in Fallen City, Ann Hui told the story of a man and a woman's romantic relationship against the backdrop of World War II and the 1941 Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, allies of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. By casting two leading Hong Kong actors, Cora Miao and Chow Yun-fat, in the lead roles, Ann Hui created a cult classic. She achieved the same feat in 1997, directing major Hong Kong film stars Jacklyn Wu Chien-lien, Leon Lai, and especially Anita Mui, the Asian Madonna, in her film Eighteen Springs, adapted from the novel by Eileen Chang. This beautiful melodrama is set in 1930s Shanghai.

Stanley Kwan was Ann Hui's assistant director. From his very first feature film, Women (1985), he cast renowned actors Chow Yun-fat and Cora Miao, establishing himself as an influential filmmaker of the third wave of Hong Kong cinema. This artistic movement, operating outside the mainstream of commercial cinema, did not hinder his success. Stanley Kwan achieved it with his highly romantic film Red, in which actress-singer Anita Mui plays a courtesan who falls madly in love with a young man from a wealthy family, portrayed by the legendary actor-singer Leslie Cheung. One of the hallmarks of the Hong Kong star system is to fully exploit the talent of actor-singers.

Alex Law first gained recognition in 1988 with Painted Faces, which recounts the true story of the China Drama Academy, a Beijing opera school in Hong Kong. The film depicts the harsh practices of Master Yu Jim Yuen, who trained his students, including Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, using brutal methods that could even lead to death. In Echoes of the Rainbow (2010), Law stars Simon Yam and Sandra Ng, two icons of Hong Kong cinema. This poignant film portrays the simple life of a couple of shoe merchants, parents of two sons with very different paths. The film perfectly captures the atmosphere of the 1960s, a time when British colonial rule was far from idyllic.

Sammo Hung's The Moon Warriors (1992), starring the internationally renowned trio of Andy Lau, Anita Mui, and Maggie Cheung; John Woo's Red Cliff (2008), featuring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, the most awarded Hong Kong actor of his generation; and Tsui Hark's Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame, with the cream of Hong Kong's acting stars, Carina Lau, Andy Lau, and Tony Leung Ka-fai, all belong to the Wu Xia Pian tradition—martial arts, swashbuckling films. These spectacular movies bring to life the history, legends, and myths of timeless China. This genre of cinema has left an indelible mark on Hong Kong. Judo (2004), a beautiful homage to Akira Kurosawa, revitalizes the martial arts film. Exile (2006), starring Simon Yam, Anthony Wong, and Francis Ng, and depicting the Hong Kong triads, is a gangster film, another major source of inspiration for Hong Kong cinema. It perfectly illustrates the mastery of Johnnie To, the undisputed master of action films, thrillers, and film noir. These films are not without a certain dark humor. In the Mood for Love (2000), The Hand (2004), and 2046 (2004), three works by Wong Kar-wai, demonstrate the incredible mastery of this central figure in Hong Kong cinema, with his inimitable and unparalleled style. The cast of these three films brings together the greatest actors from the three Chinas (Mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan): Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Faye Wong, Carina Lau, Maggie Cheung, and Chang Chen. Viewers will long remember the iconic couple Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Maggie Cheung in one of the most beautiful love stories ever made, In the Mood for Love, with its profoundly moving score. Ray Yeung, an independent director and screenwriter, tackles social issues in the vein of Stanley Kwan and Yasujiro Ozu. In 2021, the Hong Kong Arts Development Council awarded him the Film Artist of the Year prize, establishing him as a rising star of Hong Kong auteur cinema.

In selecting this "Spotlight on Hong Kong Cinema," the question of a film's "nationality" arose: is it that of the director or the producer, as in the case of Hong Kong director John Woo, whose Red Cliff producers were from Mainland China?

The same is true of Hong Kong co-productions selected for other sections of this 31st FICA: Zhang Tao's Madame Lin's Laughter, a Hong Kong-France co-production; Wu Tianming's The King of Masks, a Hong Kong-China co-production; and Jiang Xiaoxuan's To Kill a Mongolian Horse, a Hong Kong-China-Malaysia co-production. Even some of Jia Zhangke's films are Hong Kong-China co-productions, such as Dong, or even Hong Kong-China-Japan co-productions like 24 City.

The phenomenon of co-productions is growing in the 21st century, a sign of the globalization of our societies and the difficulty of securing film financing. This is why the Cannes Film Festival has decided against assigning a nationality to a film. A film is, above all, the work of a director. An author's distinctive style is recognizable among countless others, confirming the French conception of copyright, which differs from the Anglo-Saxon conception that favors the producer, the one who finances a work.

We have made the very French choice to prioritize the director's nationality.

Jean-Marc Thérouanne