My last night in Hong Kong turned out to be an unexpected and sleelpess ponder on the state of independent films. My buddy Lawrence and I attended the closing night of Hong Kong Independent Film Festival, formerly Hong Kong Asian Independent Film Festival that was born out of the dramatic severance from Hong Kong Asian Film Festival in 2008. Read the Variety article for history.
The screening of Bill Yip's Cure was well-attended. Cure is a bit of an oddball indie picture straddling between commercial and independent cinema. A first feature, Cure is essentially a mixed-genre Thai movie directed by a Hong Kong filmmaker.
At the after party, I congratulated Bill on a glass of prosecco. We all know how hard it is to make an independent feature and then get it premiered at a festival. It's truly a feat in itself.
After the after party, a bunch of us went to Lawrence's apartment where we chatted till the weehours about the state of independent filmmaking. Vincent talked about how the "calling card" indie feature was no longer a valid option in Hong Kong. At the bust of Hong Kong film industry, no one is going to finance you even if you have a great first film. It's hopeless trying to make a film to please the industry in hope of getting a gig. Making an independent film cannot be a means to an end.
Making an independent film has to be an end in itself.
Before sunrise, we all agreed that we had to make the movies we wanted if we had the opportunity. We must please ourselves as independent filmmakers.
Amen.
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