Wider reach

Given the limited size of the domestic market, the Hong Kong film industry relies on overseas revenue.

Fung said the city's cinema has a tradition of collaborating with other parts of the world.

He started his career 30 years ago as a producer at Cinema City Enterprises, a major film company in Hong Kong at the time.

Fung said sophisticated local filmmakers sought to widen their reach in the 1980s to Southeast Asian countries and regions such as Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, and then to Japan and Taiwan.

This enabled Hong Kong films to become established in Chinese communities worldwide, bridging the cultural gap with audiences from other countries.

While working in different parts of the world, Hong Kong filmmakers have continued to improve their production standards, learning from partners in various regions.

The mainland has become a vital market for the city's movies.

Derek Yee Tung-sing, 61, chairman of the Hong Kong Film Awards, has witnessed the transformation in investment on the mainland along with the boom in its film industry over the past decade.

He said many Hong Kong film investors have abandoned Southeast Asia, the US and Europe to embrace the sheer volume of the mainland market.

According to Fung, leading players in the industry have set up studios in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, and other mainland cities to take advantage of the investment available and the low labor costs.

Last month, the State Film Administration announced new measures to support the Hong Kong film industry, under which more performers from the city will be allowed to appear in mainland films. Many other limitations related to mainland plotlines have been lifted.

Hong Kong screenwriter Philip Lui Koon-nam said the measures have helped lift burdens on other screenwriters.

Lui said it was difficult for a mainland actor to play a character growing up in Hong Kong. Under the old rules, plotlines had to be twisted to comply with the regulations and still make sense, he said.

Fung said the new policies will help to promote the film industry both in Hong Kong and the mainland.

They mean more opportunities for Hong Kong filmmakers. The mainland film industry also benefits, as its filmmakers are granted broader choices on plotlines, actors and production staff members, he added.