PRESS, PUBLISHING, BROADCASTING, FILMS AND TOURISM 279
The nature and size of the market available to these films presents a financial problem. China does not import Hong Kong films, and so, apart from local audiences, Hong Kong productions are shown mainly to overseas Chinese in South-East Asia and in Taiwan; occasionally they are exported for exhibition to Chinese audiences in the United States. The demand of overseas Chinese cinema audiences for films on Chinese themes told in their own language is insatiable, but the market is not large enough to guarantee an economic return unless production costs are kept at a minimum; in consequence the aim of Hong Kong production is generally quantity rather than quality. Hong Kong nevertheless again made a good showing at the_Sixth Film Festival of the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia, held at Kuala Lumpur in May. The 'Golden Gong', which is the award for the best picture, was given to 'The Kingdom and the Beauty' (Shaws), which also won the second prize for direction. 'Her Tender Heart' (Motion Picture & General Investment) won awards for the best acting (Miss Yu Ming) and the best editing. Awards for the best music and the best black-and-white photography went to two other films made by the same companies.
Three overseas feature films were shot partly in Hong Kong by Italian, Indian and Philippine companies. The shooting of 'Ferry to Hong Kong' (Rank) was completed early in the year, and as the year ended work on 'The World of Suzie Wong' (Paramount) began, with William Holden and France Nuyen in the lead. Hong Kong has been the setting for several documentaries for television services in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and Italy. Scenes were also shot by a United Nations photographer for use in connexion with World Refugee Year, whilst another United Nations representative made a large number of still photo- graphs for library and reference use by UNESCO.
The cinema is a popular form of entertainment in Hong Kong, and although one or two theatres closed during the year, some of them are being rebuilt, and other new ones were opened. There are now 65 in all (68,415 seats) of which 26 are on the Island (29,414), 27 in Kowloon (31,083) and 12 in the New Territories (7,918). Most buildings are modern and air-conditioned, and nearly all are now equipped to show wide-screen films. Next to Chinese films made in Hong Kong, films from the United States
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