The inspiring lyrics from an old song by the great Jonathan Lee go like this: "Work is easy/Making a living is hard/Love is easy/Building a home is hard. "The same formula can be applied to the life of a scriptwriter: Becoming a scriptwriter is easy, but making a living as one is hard. Nurturing a script and falling in love with it is easy, but giving your entire life to the craft is hard.

The allure of scriptwriting is in the freedom to let the imagination soar, having the power to control stories, characters and movements. However, that process also brings internal psychological turmoil, the struggle to meet deadlines as well as pressure from directors and producers. The life of a scriptwriter is one filled with frustrations and obstacles, and it's not a life that everyone can relate to.

One of the main goals of this programme was to give us a chance to go face-to-face with scriptwriters. Another goal is to showcase a wide range of films that represents different genres and different eras. This is why we have programmed films by renowned writers from other eras to serve as contrast to our six scriptwriters in focus.

The programme's six scriptwriters in focus are: Joyce Chan, Szeto On, Alfred Cheung, Alex Law, Raymond To and Chan Man-keung. In addition to their representative works, we will also be screening some of their favorite films.

From radio and television to films, Joyce Chan excelled in injecting life and vigor into her stories, as well as making incisive observations about the society at large. Having been living abroad for the past three decades, Chan is making a rare public appearance for this programme, and we have scheduled several meet-and-greet sessions for her works. Before his retirement, Szeto On has written over 1,000 films over the course of his 40-year career. A true craftsman, Szeto can write any story in any genre.

Hailing from television, Alfred Cheung's films are urban stories made for the middle class, but they also have deep metaphorical elements. Rich in Hong Kong flavor, Alex Law and Mabel Cheung's works were moving, romantic and often touching the soft core of many. Moving in between the search for love and the search for his roots, Raymond To has given us one memorable love story after another throughout his career. Chan Man-keung's works are often gritty and realistic, and he shines even brighter when he works with big-name filmmakers like Stephen Chow and Ann Hui.

"The Art of Film Scripting" was made possible through priceless memorabilia and background information offered by many scriptwriters. Our special thanks to Joyce Chan, who is flying in from Toronto to join our event, and Szeto On, who is still as lively and humorous as ever at the age of 88.

In addition to Ms. Chan and Mr. Szeto, we would like to thank our seminar guests Alfred Cheung, Alex Law, Mabel Cheung, Raymond To, Chan Man-keung, Lam Chiu-wing, Victor Or, Jack Ng and Thomas Shin. We hope that these seminars and post-screening talks will help audiences understand the lives and thoughts of scriptwriters in Hong Kong. This is a tribute to all scriptwriters who have given their minds and hearts to Hong Kong cinema!

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.