NOTES ON ENTERTAINMENT, CULTURE AND MORE FROM KOREA (OR WHEREVER)

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Hong Kong Filmart - Mini Report

Well, so much for posting daily reports on the Hong Kong Filmart. I intended to, but I have just been way too busy. Which is a good problem, I guess.

The big news, from opening night, was that South Korea's THE HOST was the big winner at the inaugural Asia Film Awards, picking up awards for Best Cinematography, Best Actor Best Effects and Best Film.

As for the market itself, it has been fairly hopping, especially the opening day. It does tend to lose a little steam as the week goes on, but there is still plenty happening. Filmart is housed in the Hong Kong Convention Center, a huge, bulbous structure built on reclaimed land in the Hong Kong harbor.

Filmart is quite different from the Pusan International Film Festival and market. Although there are films being screened and an accompanying film festival, it is much quieter than PIFF. The market is bigger, or at least it feels a lot bigger, since it is held in that huge convention center (PIFF's film market is held in a beachfront hotel). Just the vibe in general is different -- more business, less art, perhaps. Still, I quite like Filmart, and I quite like coming to Hong Kong.

The most personally notable part of the market for me was the surprise visit of a big nose pimple, right on opening night. Nothing like having a thousand meetings lined up, and suddenly having this nasty red thing growing in the middle of your face. Sigh. Luckily, the harsh convention center lighting made it a little less visible.

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