21 Mar - With the gala premiere of Johnnie To and Wai Ka Fai's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" and also the world premiere for "Quattro Hong Kong 2", jointly directed by four award-winning filmmakers – Hong Kong's Stanley Kwan, Malaysia's Ho Yu Hang, the Philippines'' Brillante Mendoza and Thailand's Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Hong Kong celebrated the official opening of the 35th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre with a grand ceremony last night.
In the presence of officiating guests, Gregory So Kam Leung, JP, Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, and Wilfred Wong SBS JP, Chairman of the HKIFF Society and Ambassador Miriam Yeung, the festival was launched with the a line-up that included Louis Koo, Daniel Wu, Gao Yuan Yuan, JJ Jia, Larisa Bakurova, Wai Ying Hung, Michelle Wai, Tsui Tien You, Carlos Chan, Gordon Lam, Terence Yin and Hayama Hiro and more. HKIFF chairman Wilfred Wong said: "We are proud to continue our tradition as one of Asia's foremost platforms and showcases for Asian and international cinema. We remain committed to promoting films to the whole community and to present a festival that brings together a diversity of cultures styles of filmmaking, and the exchange of ideas. In this way, HKIFF has contributed and continues to contribute to the development of Hong Kong as the hub of our region's cinema." According to a press release from the organisers, the event will run for 16 days from 20 March to 5 April, screening 335 titles from 56 countries - 59 of them being world, international or Asian premieres. As of today, over 63,000 tickets have been sold and there are more than 60 sold-out screenings since the box office opened on 26 February 2011. Running concurrently to the festival is the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FILMART) which features some films of interest to the Singapore and Malaysia region such as James Lee's "Claypot Curry Killers", Li Nan Xing's "The Ultimate Winner", Tan Chui Mui's "Year Without A Summer" and Bjarne Wong's "The Hunter 3D".