Documentary-makers Call For Funding, Screen Time

Documentary-makers in Hong Kong have urged the government to do more to support them, warning that young film-makers are struggling to get funding or to find places to show their work.

They say the government's Film Development Fund only provides subsidies for selected feature dramas, or animation films, that are aimed at commercial release, and their documentaries aren't covered.

Ruby Yang, an Oscar-winning documentary-maker, said on Tuesday that the criteria for funding should be relaxed.

She said this would help Hong Kong catch up with other places such as the mainland and Taiwan when it comes to producing documentaries.

"I see a lot of young, emerging talent coming out of Hong Kong which wasn't there 10 years ago. Ten years ago I saw only a few films, but now I see many young film-makers are making documentaries. So I think the time is right," Yang told RTHK's Jimmy Choi.

Yang earlier wrote an open letter to the Chief Executive Carrie Lam, urging the administration to do more to support documentary-makers.

The Chief Executive's Office replied by saying that her views have been relayed to the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau for further consideration.

Lorraine Ma, a young filmmaker agreed that financing is the most difficult part for producing a documentary film.

"If the government could step in and provide the financing to help us get started, that's the most practical thing they could do. Nobody can go ahead and make a film without some financing in place and most other grants that you can apply for require you to have some financing in place before they support you. So if the government can be the initial person to kick-start us along the journey, that would be really helpful."

Ma added that many emerging filmmakers have found it difficult to screen their short films in commercial cinemas, as these theatres usually only accept films that are at least 75 minutes long.

Jo Cheng, also a young documentary-maker, says she has to juggle making films and doing part-time work to make ends meet:

"Even if I had the time to work on my films, I don't have enough finances to support my projects, for example, to hire a good cameraman. So basically I have to be a good cameraperson myself. It's like a multi-tasking job that is very low-paid, and it takes up a lot of your time."

"People who go into documentary filmmaking really have to love it so much....I'm happy doing this because it's what I love, but it's not easy to sustain it." she added.