Initiative launched

"Keep rolling" was the theme for this year's Hong Kong Film Awards. Noting the aging issue confronting the movie talent pool, Yee, the awards chairman, said the industry hopes to nurture new talent.

Hong Kong film producer and screenwriter Manfred Wong Man-Chun, 62, is confident about the city's young filmmakers, saying they possess "special DNA".

Wong was among the first group of Hong Kong filmmakers who went to the mainland to produce movies in the 1990s. He has worked with many young filmmakers from both the city and the mainland.

Wong said young people growing up in Hong Kong are exposed to foreign culture, and the city's distinctive culture and history offer more possibilities for creative story lines.

In 2013, the Hong Kong government launched the First Feature Film Initiative to support new directors and nurture young filmmakers. Yee, Wong and Lau are all mentors in the program.

Under the initiative, young talent with dreams of making films can submit screenplays and production proposals to a competition committee. If their work stands out from that of their peers', the government will provide the production fees to help them make their first films.

The budget provided is lower than the market level, but many teams have managed to complete high-quality films.

One of the movies, Mad World, directed by the first-year winner Wong Chun, was selected in 2017 as the Hong Kong entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.

Another movie, Weeds on Fire, released in 2016 and based on the Shatin Martins, the first baseball team from Hong Kong to win a league championship, earned commercial success and critical acclaim.

Meanwhile, many stars such as Carina Lau Kar-ling and Shawn Yue Man-lok, joined such low-budget productions even though the pay was poor. Sometimes they even worked for free.

Fung, from the Hong Kong Film Development Council, said the actors are not working for the money, but want to help young filmmakers get started and to keep the industry going.