Category: Film Markets

It has been interesting getting to Filmart so far ahead of time, for once. The Hong Kong Filmart runs Monday to Thursday (March 17-20… although most people leave on Wednesday), but this year THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER is publishing dailies, so I arrived a few days early to set up.

Our office is just above the market floor, in a nice, spacious location. We have a window that overlooks the floor, reminding me of the VIP room in some colossal disco. Best of all, our room number is “14” — the most unlucky number for Chinese people of a superstitious bent (it’s even worse than 4 is in Korea).

After a couple of days of mad, hectic rushing, the exhibition crew has just about finished setting up everyone’s booths. Packing wrap is being pulled down. Paint is almost dry. I’m told the registration booth will be issuing ID cards within an hour.

It is always great to be in Hong Kong. We went to a great Peking Duck place last night. Already checked out Happy Valley. Done some shopping. Went to Ebenezer for kebabs and biryani and didn’t get dysentery. It’s been a full trip.

Maybe I should do some real work now…

Well, so much for posting daily reports on the Hong Kong Filmart. I intended to, but I have just been way too busy. Which is a good problem, I guess.

The big news, from opening night, was that South Korea’s THE HOST was the big winner at the inaugural Asia Film Awards, picking up awards for Best Cinematography, Best Actor Best Effects and Best Film.

As for the market itself, it has been fairly hopping, especially the opening day. It does tend to lose a little steam as the week goes on, but there is still plenty happening. Filmart is housed in the Hong Kong Convention Center, a huge, bulbous structure built on reclaimed land in the Hong Kong harbor.

Filmart is quite different from the Pusan International Film Festival and market. Although there are films being screened and an accompanying film festival, it is much quieter than PIFF. The market is bigger, or at least it feels a lot bigger, since it is held in that huge convention center (PIFF’s film market is held in a beachfront hotel). Just the vibe in general is different — more business, less art, perhaps. Still, I quite like Filmart, and I quite like coming to Hong Kong.

The most personally notable part of the market for me was the surprise visit of a big nose pimple, right on opening night. Nothing like having a thousand meetings lined up, and suddenly having this nasty red thing growing in the middle of your face. Sigh. Luckily, the harsh convention center lighting made it a little less visible.