Hong Kong cinema, by necessity, was made to travel. A city-state only slightly territorially larger than the five boroughs of New York City, Hong Kong boasts a hyperactive film industry that needed to cultivate audiences beyond its borders in order to survive and thrive. As such, its history is one of outreach, making movies that would screen for Chinese diasporic communities and for diverse audiences around the world, with a long record of international co-productions and globe-trotting shoots. Once the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of China was decided on in 1984, many residents of the Fragrant Harbor, anxious about the future, started packing their bags. Among those who left town for a while were several of the reckless talents who’d helped make Hong Kong’s popular cinema internationally renowned—John Woo being perhaps the most famous émigré—and who went on to storm Hollywood and give American movies a much-needed injection of raw energy. A tribute to a regional film culture that changed the face of world cinema, and a gift to film-lovers everywhere.   

Interview

“I became Chucky”

By Felix Hubble

An interview with Bride of Chucky director Ronny Yu.