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• Wouter Barendrecht... for my first blog entry I would like to respectfully copy and paste an interview I conducted with Wouter back in 2006, I was still new to Hong Kong and he was always helpful and ready to provide quotes when I was in a bind

  Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 12:54PM / Standard Entry / Members only
  

  Bravissimo, Fortissimo
  Hong Kong Company Boosts Pan-Asian Films
  
  Nov. 27, 2006
  
  The Hong Kong film industry was once a force to be reckoned with. Production numbers were rivaled only by Hollywood and Bollywood. Now, in a post-1997, post-SARS environment, production numbers are at an all-time low. Mainland co-productions, however, are on the rise, and perhaps this was inevitable. Pan-Asian cinema in general has been gaining more and more impetus. Peter Chan's Applause Pictures has been a trailblazer in this direction, as is Fortissimo Films.
  
  Fortissimo Films was established in Amsterdam in 1991, and shortly after moved to Hong Kong. "From the beginning of Fortissimo," comments Wouter Barendrecht, Fortissimo's co-chairman together with Michael J. Werner, "we had strong relationships with Asian filmmakers. Instead of flying six times a year from Amsterdam to Asia, it made sense to have a base here. And we have become part of the Asian film family, so to speak, which we couldn't have achieved by being based outside of Asia."
  
  There are quite a few prominent Westerners, or gweillos (a once derogative term meaning "ghost men"), prominently working in the Hong Kong film industry. Many have completely absorbed the local culture, and Barendrecht likes to think of himself as an "Egg," or as he explains it, "White outside, yellow inside."
  
  Fortissimo's activities in Asia involve production, sales, distribution and promotion of mostly art-house cinema. "In the Asian scene, we are known for the edgier kind of films," Barendrecht explains. "Like Wong Kar-Wai, Iwai Shunji, The Pang Brothers, Jiang Wen, Pen-ek Ratanaruang. I think we are probably more auteur-driven that most other Asian companies."
  
  Fortissimo's importance in the Asian and particularly in the Hong Kong production and distribution market has increased exponentially over the past few years. Barendrecht notes, "Fortissimo's growth has always been organic. That's why we are still in this business. We have indeed stepped up our activities here, but it was a logical step being based here and following how the Asian markets and talents developed."
  
  For the funding of film projects, Fortissimo uses its own capital, but the company also has a deal with the Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong. On top of this, there are always co-financiers, such as Andy Lau's Focus Films in Hong Kong, and CJ Entertainment in Korea, which co-produced Invisible Waves together with Fortissimo.
  
  Speaking of working in Hong Kong post-'97, Barendrecht observes that there are now "less films but bigger budgets. Post-'97 Hong Kong cinema has lost its traditional markets significantly--like Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia--but Mainland China has come in for certain films." He adds, "Mainland co-productions are partly the future, since China has become the natural market for a lot of these films. The Hong Kong market by itself is too small. Low-budget, pure Hong Kong cinema will continue to exist, but needs to be cheap, otherwise it doesn't make sense financially."
  
  These Hong Kong-Mainland China co-productions must adhere to the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), now in Phase III. CEPA III states the guidelines that must be followed for a film to be classified as a co-production. This, however, places restrictions on the freedom of directors. Nevertheless, these co-productions are exempt from the foreign-film quota, which is an issue that is currently plaguing the South Korean industry.
  
  In Barendrecht's view, "Pan-Asian cinema is for sure a part of the future, since a strong regional market and cinema is needed to develop new talent, but also to make financiers less dependent on the results of the films in just one or two markets. The regional phenomenon is quite spectacular. Ten years ago, nobody wanted to see anything-films, TV series, pop music-from Korea or Thailand, for example, and now Korean stars are among the biggest in Asia."
  
  Barendrecht believes that although markets are opening up in Thailand, Vietnam and China, Korea has become a very tough market for anything non-Hollywood or non-Korean to succeed in. "It is a very tough market now," he says, "for Chinese, Japanese and European films. Television has never been a key factor in Asia for buying films. It has, however, in Europe, where distributors would only buy films that could also be sold to television after a theatrical release."
  
  Speaking on the future of Hong Kong cinema, Barendrecht says, "I see some young directors that are very talented and who hopefully are the future of Hong Kong cinema. But pure Hong Kong cinema will be less than before, since the market in Hong Kong is not in good shape. Hong Kong audiences are not truly supporting Hong Kong cinema anymore to the extent that they used to do. We need to get those audiences back somehow. Audiences can be educated and that's what's lacking. But, of course, that's a semi-political matter. There needs to be education in schools, universities, etc., to 'create a film climate.'"
  
  The education towards creating "a film climate" in Hong Kong may well be happening. Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang's recent policy address announced the establishment of a Film Development Council, a governmental body that would have the power to introduce film education into the region, as well as boost film production and foreign investment.
  
  Though traveling the endless festival circuit can become tiring, it does provide some strange, even surrealistic memories. Barendrecht recalls one such story from the 59th Cannes Film Festival. "On Sunday at midnight, jury president Wong Kar-Wai was stuck in the elevator on his way to our office. He was stuck for one hour. In his tuxedo. At the same time, Michelle Yeoh was cooking cup noodles in our office kitchen while wearing a dress worth millions of dollars and surrounded by two bodyguards because of the expensive jewels she was wearing. It was the night after the award ceremony and she had been a presenter, but she was dying for some Asian food and knew we would have it in our office!"
  
  Fortissimo's expansion is not limited to Asia. The company has recently established a regional office in Sydney and one in New York, the latter due to their increased involvement with U.S. indies. In addition, they have scouts around the world, in places such as the Middle East, Beijing, Tokyo and Bangkok. Barendrecht notes, "We travel to many different corners of the world all year long to find talent, meet producers, and to discuss films-to-be. Of course, after having been in the business for over 16 years, people also approach us actively. Our greatest achievements are introducing Asian cinema to the Western world and helping critics, festivals, buyers and audiences discover masters such as Wong Kar-Wai, Tsai Ming Liang, Hou Hsiao Hsien and Pen-ek Ratanruang."
  
  

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