Thais that bind

While over its long history, Hong Kong cinema has always welcomed international opportunities - the massive Shaw Brothers operation had studios across the region as far back as the 1930s - coproductions really became government policy following the local industry's fall in fortune coming out of the heady days of the mid-1980s to mid-'90s. Where once there were around 400 films a year produced in Hong Kong, by the end of the '90s, the number had crashed to around 40 as audiences were lured away from seeing local films at the cinema by Hollywood blockbusters, video piracy, as well as the continued growth of alternative viewing platforms and entertainment options.

One of the earliest to see the advantages of coproduction was Peter Chan Ho-sun, who through his Applause Pictures, beginning in 2000, tapped into the pan-Asian market for partners, and had success backing the likes of the Hong Kong-born, Bangkok-based Pang brothers, Danny and Oxide, and their horror film trilogy, The Eye (2002-05).

The lure for international partners is that Hong Kong has always known how to make commercial cinema - which is exactly what brought a delegation from the Thai Film Director Association to the Sawasdee Cinematheque event in Macao, and to various meet-and-greet sessions with filmmakers from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.