Cinema of Hong Kong

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The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China and Cinema of Taiwan. Hong Kong, as a British colony, had a great degree of political and economic freedom relative to Mainland China and Taiwan, and developed into a filmmaking hub for the Chinese-speaking world (including the worldwide diaspora) and East Asia in general. For decades it was the third largest motion picture industry in the world (after Bollywood and Hollywood) and the second largest exporter. Despite an industry crisis starting in the mid-'90s and Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty in July 1997, Hong Kong film has retained much of its distinctive identity and continues to play a prominent part on the world cinema stage.

Related Topics:
Chinese-language - Cinema - Cinema of Hong Kong - Cinema of China - Cinema of Taiwan - Hong Kong - Mainland China - Taiwan - Diaspora - Bollywood - Hollywood

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In the West, Hong Kong's vigorous pop cinema has long had a strong cult following, which has become large enough that it is now arguably a part of the cultural mainstream, widely available and imitated. This influence has been particularly heavy on recent Hollywood trends in the action genre.

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