Since the official opening of the Hong Kong Film Archive in January, 2001, activities of the Programming Section have been focused on two directions. One is the systematic presentation of the Archive's collection in the form of screenings and exhibitions, providing opportunities for the public to get to know Hong Kong's cinematic past and to have a better understanding of our film culture, our society and our history. Following the suggestion of our advisory committee, our goal is not to neglect the present at the expense of the past and the rest of the world at the expense of Hong Kong. We also try to work with other archives to facilitate an exchange of cinematic cultures.

Last August, we for the first time focused on a contemporary director in the program The Celluloid Swordsman: Tsui Hark and His Cinema, which included the screening of eleven of his films, an exhibition and five seminars. The program was not limited to the study of Tsui's works but also involved interviews with Tsui and filmmakers who had worked with him. The interviews were taped and edited while the filmmakers were invited to participate in our seminars to help provide a better understanding of the various aspects of Tsui's cinema.

In the process, we realized that we had collected an abundance of material and decided to publish a book on Tsui Hark based on those material, at the same time inviting filmmakers and critics to contribute articles to the effort. Sam Ho was invited to edit the book with the assistance of Ho Wai-leng and Cass Wong.

It is our hope that this book will be of value of filmmakers as well as researchers both Chinese and foreign. This is not only a collection of critical essays but also a book that put on display the technical and artistic accomplishments of an internationally known Hong Kong filmmaker. On behalf of the Programming Section, I like to thank all the organizations, individuals and writers who had made this book possible.

Law Kar
Programming Section
Hong Kong Film Archive