Developing Images – Early Chinese Films

Introduction

Study of any early cinema is necessarily difficult. Most, if not all, pioneers of film had no idea that cinema would become what it is. Little effort was therefore dedicated to preservation and much of silent cinema had been lost. This situation is perhaps even more severe with Chinese cinema, which had to endure years of political and cultural turmoil much longer and more turbulent than most countries.

Lost forever are not only films but also related documents, including production records, information on business activities and newspaper reports. As such, our understanding of early Chinese cinema is extremely lacking.

To encourage better understanding of early Hong Kong cinema and its relationship with the larger Chinese cinema, the Hong Kong Film Archive is staging the conference History of Early Chinese Cinema(s) Revisited on December 15-17 and this special screening programme from December 16. We're showing some of the earliest Chinese and Hong Kong films available as well as, for reference, American and European films made in 1909, the reputed but debated year of Hong Kong's first film.

The contents of the programme do not represent the views of the presenter. The presenter reserves the right to change the programme should unavoidable circumstances make it necessary.