The global appetite for films from Hong Kong is growing fast. This is not a repeat of the Korean wave, which saw the likes of Parasite and Squid Game generate a significant international audience for K-content. It is the result of an increasing number of Hong Kongers leaving the region and permanently moving to other countries.
Hong Kong saw an estimated 500,000 people leave the city between 2021 and 2024, spurred by the pandemic, political unrest and the prospect of a higher standard of living elsewhere. The top destinations were the UK, Canada and Australia, all of which have taken measures in recent years to grant residency to those leaving Hong Kong.
As this diaspora widens, so does the desire to see their own homegrown films. Established distributors such as Well Go USA, Trinity CineAsia and Magnum Films have long served these key territories, exporting leading commercial titles that promise box-office returns.
But a gap in the market has been identified by a handful of expats who realised there were major titles going unreleased. They include Patricia Yung, who was a lawyer in Hong Kong before moving to Toronto with her family during the pandemic in 2020, launching distributor Illume Films in 2022.
“I didn’t want to resume my previous career but did want to do something interesting while contributing to the community,” she recalls. “It all started because there was a movie I was very interested in seeing but I knew wouldn’t be shown in North America, where distributors acquire more commercial titles. That film was The Sparring Partner.”
Ho Cheuk Tin’s courtroom drama was an obvious target for the former lawyer and one that proved successful for the fledgling distributor, which partnered with Well Go USA to help handle its inaugural release. Illume also works with Hong Kong-based Imagi Crystal, whose head of distribution is former Emperor Motions Picture executive Alice Ho, to identify titles and negotiate deals.
Rising stars
“In North America, there is a large group of Hong Kong Chinese who have been living here a long time and are used to big, familiar names in their films,” says Yung. “But for newer immigrants, they favour a rising generation of movie stars such as Lo Chun Yip from Time Still Turns The Pages or Jennifer Yu from In Broad Daylight. These are the people whose films we are looking to acquire.”
A similar origin story is shared by Cicely Tsang, a TV drama series director in Hong Kong who moved to Australia in 2022 and launched distributor Ponder Entertainment a year later.
“I was studying for my masters degree at the Australian Film Television and Radio School and learned that Warriors Of Future had been released in Hong Kong,” says Tsang of the action sci-fi blockbuster starring Louis Koo. “I desperately wanted to see it but there was nowhere it was showing in Australia. That was followed by The Sparring Partner, which I also wanted to watch but wasn’t screening here. Not only did I realise how much I was missing Hong Kong movies but that there was this gap in the market.
“I believed there were a lot of people like me who migrated to Australia and wanted to connect to our homeland through entertainment,” Tsang continues, “so I went back to Hong Kong after I graduated, tapped into my contacts and picked up my first film in January 2023, Hong Kong Family.”
In the UK, Central City Media was launched by sales executive Sophie Wong in 2018 to help independent producers, distributors and sales agents co-ordinate theatrical and digital releases. In mid-2023, Wong saw a fresh opportunity. “I looked at the Hong Kong diaspora and new Hong Kongers that had come to the UK and realised it would be great to get more films over to give back to that community,” she says. The first release was Philip Yung’s Where The Wind Blows, starring Tony Leung, in September 2023.
Central City Media has since released a further five Hong Kong films over 18 months, the latest being Yung’s Papa, which took nearly $40,000 (£29,800) when it opened on February 28.
“We have been building audiences in the UK who know that our company is a home for Hong Kong films,” says Wong. “It has taken a while to build that audience rapport but now they even make suggestions of which films they would like to see on screen.”
A significant challenge that all three distributors have faced when growing their burgeoning businesses is piracy, specifically a set-top box that can be purchased in Hong Kong or China for a one-off fee and consistently updates with the latest films and TV series the moment they become available digitally.
“In North America, the Chinese population has become quite used to watching films through illegal streaming sources,” says Illume’s Yung. “These boxes are cheap and it’s not cheap to go to the cinema — people might live 40 minutes away from a cinema showing a Hong Kong film.”
“Once film titles are available on those boxes, you immediately see poor ticket sales so we have just a small window for release,” says Tsang.
Wong faces the same issue. “You have to be mindful of windowing due to these boxes,” she says. “By speaking with the sales agents about the windows, it diminishes the risk because once a film is released digitally in Hong Kong, it’s far tougher for the UK market. That’s one of the early lessons I’ve learned.”
Trouble at home
A further challenge is the health of the Hong Kong film market itself. Despite record-breaking hits such as The Last Dance and Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In, box office fell to a 13-year low in 2024, when 46 local films were released.
“People asked if I really wanted to get into distributing Hong Kong films because there isn’t a lot of investment going into the industry there right now,” says Yung. “But people are still making films in Hong Kong, and good ones too. The talent is there and they’re not just doing something to suit the tastes of the general public. They want to tell stories that have a message, which is a great thing.”
Wong also notes the struggles but strikes a note of cautious optimism. “There is a decline in cinemagoing in Hong Kong and there have been cinemas that have shut down, which will have an impact on how many films are made,” she says. “But there are really interesting stories being told at the moment from new talent as well as established filmmakers. It’s a very interesting time.”
Tsang has the added hurdle of apathy from Australian cinema chains, meaning she books most of her screenings with the likes of arthouse chain Palace Cinemas and independent venues. “After two years of conversations, nothing has changed,” she says. “Village Cinemas have straight out rejected me, saying they don’t believe the films I have will perform well while [public service broadcaster] SBS have turned down all my titles for their streaming platform, while acquiring more commercial movies like Table For Six 2.”
Yung also wants to see more Hong Kong films on streaming platforms to help grow interest. “I want the likes of Netflix and Prime to pick up more titles from Hong Kong,” she says. “They are big on titles from Korea and Japan but we want to see more Hong Kong films on those platforms.”
Going forward, all three distributors are considering expansion into films from Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and beyond, but Hong Kong remains the focus.
Central City Media is set to release Nick Cheung’s Peg O’ My Heart and Adam Wong’s The Way We Talk while Illume and Ponder are preparing to open feelgood dog-rescue drama An Abandoned Team, by first-time feature writer/directors Thomas Lee and Daniel Ho, in their territories.
“It used to be that kung fu and action movies out of Hong Kong would perform well, but audiences are expanding from sensationalist movies and acquiring a taste for something more artistic with a message,” says Yung. “We’re working to strike more of a balance between commercial and arthouse… while bringing audiences back to cinemas. It’s so much better to sit together rather than watching at home alone.”
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