As Hong Kong Film Archive reaches its 20th year, it’s time to celebrate the city’s film history by revisiting the works acquired and restored by the organization. Mathew Scott reports.
From left: Priscilla Chan, Rowena Tsang and Koven Lo of Hong Kong Film Archive are part of a team that has made preserving old Hong Kong films their mission. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
The tale of Hong Kong Film Archive has always been as much about serendipity as adventure, which is why marking the organization’s 20th anniversary with a bunch of screenings under the title “Treasure-Hunt Stories” seems so fitting.
When it comes to building its library of old films in order to safeguard Hong Kong’s cinematic legacy, HKFA relies both on good fortune, as well as its knack for smelling out a resource.
“We always have hope,” is how Rowena Tsang, head of HKFA, describes the day-to-day mood inside the organization’s Sai Wan Ho office. “We always think that maybe a miracle will happen tomorrow.”
And there have been quite a few of those in the two decades since the archive’s doors opened at 50 Lei King Road.
Their first acquisition took them completely by surprise, back at a time when the idea that the city needed a dedicated space to work on restoration and archiving of films that are a part of its rich cinematic history was first being mooted.
Way before HKFA got its own home, the city’s then Urban Council had been trying to track down copies of Hong Kong films. Several leads they received needed to be acted on fast, given the notoriously temperamental nature of old nitrate-based film stock. A chance call with Rank Film Laboratories, during a trip to London in 1992, revealed the company had unearthed some Chinese-language film stock. The first acquisition — a copy of The Orphan (1960), starring an 18-year-old Bruce Lee — was made soon afterward.
When the local government realized that with a little bit of luck, and some effort, more such films could be found and restored to their former glory — they set the wheels in motion.
“The archive came about because of Hong Kong films and how important they are to local culture,” explains Tsang. “There was an urgent need because of the deterioration of films, and a scarcity of space to store them. So in order to better preserve this film heritage, a planning office was set up in 1993 and then we were lucky enough to find a home here in 2001. We are devoted to preserving Hong Kong films.”
(CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
New lease of life
Today, HKFA is home to hundreds of films, and a restoration team working diligently and tirelessly, trying to stem the course of time. First, they must find the films, and then they must restore and preserve them. Digitalization of old films has helped to save and protect some of the great moments of Hong Kong’s cinema history.
“There is a challenge in restoring old films,” says Koven Lo, HKFA’s assistant curator (conservation). “Because of the hot weather and the conditions in Hong Kong, when old films come to us, most of them are not in good shape.”
Some of these films, Lo adds, bear the imprint of age. Some might even have been cut marks.
“So our first thing is to stop the deterioration. Then we can store them and work to preserve them. In the past few years, we are digitalizing them so we can share them with Hong Kong people, and with future generations.”
Among the classics HKFA has brought back to life are the once-thought-lost Fei Mu-directed gem Confucius (1940) and the restored version of Yun Ho’s Colorful Youth (1966) — both screening as part of the “Treasure-Hunt Stories” program that runs until Dec 31.
Serendipitous finds
Over the years, HKFA has also acquired film memorabilia and associated artifacts. HKFA’s 20th anniversary celebrations include an exhibition drawn from the history of the Tai Ping Theatre which hosted screenings from the 1930s until 1981.
Priscilla Chan, HKFA’s assistant curator (programming), has been helping with the hunt, so to speak, and it does really sound like an adventure when she explains how it feels when a film or a document turns up unexpectedly.
In 2012, Chan and her team were visiting San Francisco. When they met Jack Lee Fong, founder of San Francisco’s famed Palace Theatre, he took them into a dark room below the cinema.
“We walked in and thought ‘Wow, this is amazing!’” Chan recalls. “There were more than 20 film titles, all nitrate prints. It was like finding lost treasure. We just felt so lucky to have that good fortune.”
Tsang believes HKFA needs to intensify their engagement with local schools, by hosting screenings and talks about film history and what goes on behind the cameras. She also feels HKFA needs more people to come on board, to fill in gaps in the departments of restoration, research, programming and translation, among others.
While 20 years have passed since the HKFA came into existence, the search for old Hong Kong films continues.
“We are always trying to reach out to people who have film collections,” says Tsang. “We are continuing to search for films and other materials so we can protect this film heritage.”
If you go
Treasure-Hunt Stories
Hosted by Hong Kong Film Archive
Date: Through Dec 31
Venue: Various Venues
