Cinemania
Not sure whether it is my free time had been passed mainly in cinema in the nowadays or not. I realise I was in different so call film festival almost every month, if not every weekend. Starting from August, I realised every time when I go to cinema, it was more because of going for films that shown in that festival or this festival, rather than any commercial releases. Even as frequent as I am as a cinema-goer, I became to realise the no. of film festival had been a bit more than they should be.
On one side, you would probably feel "excited" the fact that film culture has gained momentum among the younger generation. But on the flip side, what is the point of having so many little film festival around, where the major one, the HK film festival, was only regarded as successful as far as box office is concerned? Indeed, it may be argued the fact that (apart from those held by HK film archive) these festivals had become a springboard to those who had less confidence about the commercial market. One would think film distributors may want to use such occasion to "test" the market and see what sort of responses they are going to get from the film festival audience, so to try adjusting there future release strategies. Indeed, many of the films that are showing in the festival, almost instantly, would be available in general cinemas, as shown by their up-coming posters.
Film festival, in the old days, was always treated as an event in which independent/foreign production (which is harder to be seen in public) can have a chance to show off what they are. A lot of times films showing these festivals can be an once in a lifetime experience. It is an event where film culture in a form of art can be appreciated. While gaining popularity/publicity are important in nowadays society, event like film festival should not be degraded into another marketing events, to say the least.
Indeed with so many festivals going on, even as experience as I am, I found it become more difficult than ever, to pick those which is worth going. There is this article by 皮亞 which highlight the fact that some of the films which shown in so-called festival are more likely regarded as 偽術片 (fake skill film) than 藝術片 (art film). http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/080927/4/8g1l.html
Maybe we should all focus more on the quality of what we are going to see, rather than the quantity.
On one side, you would probably feel "excited" the fact that film culture has gained momentum among the younger generation. But on the flip side, what is the point of having so many little film festival around, where the major one, the HK film festival, was only regarded as successful as far as box office is concerned? Indeed, it may be argued the fact that (apart from those held by HK film archive) these festivals had become a springboard to those who had less confidence about the commercial market. One would think film distributors may want to use such occasion to "test" the market and see what sort of responses they are going to get from the film festival audience, so to try adjusting there future release strategies. Indeed, many of the films that are showing in the festival, almost instantly, would be available in general cinemas, as shown by their up-coming posters.
Film festival, in the old days, was always treated as an event in which independent/foreign production (which is harder to be seen in public) can have a chance to show off what they are. A lot of times films showing these festivals can be an once in a lifetime experience. It is an event where film culture in a form of art can be appreciated. While gaining popularity/publicity are important in nowadays society, event like film festival should not be degraded into another marketing events, to say the least.
Indeed with so many festivals going on, even as experience as I am, I found it become more difficult than ever, to pick those which is worth going. There is this article by 皮亞 which highlight the fact that some of the films which shown in so-called festival are more likely regarded as 偽術片 (fake skill film) than 藝術片 (art film). http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/080927/4/8g1l.html
Maybe we should all focus more on the quality of what we are going to see, rather than the quantity.
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