RECREATION, SPORT AND THE ARTS
Company. Arts education programmes on multi-media art and musical theatre were organised with the Hong Kong Ballet, Zuni Icosahedron and the International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong).
Hong Kong International Film Festival
The annual Hong Kong International Film Festival, held in March/April, is one of the world's major non-competitive film festivals. The 24th festival in 2000 presented 232 films from more than 45 countries, and attracted a total audience of 145 330.
Apart from the screening of films, there were a number of fringe activities including exhibitions, seminars, forums, student previews, outdoor film shows, independent filmmakers' gathering and meet-the-director sessions. The topic of the Hong Kong Cinema Retrospective was Border Crossings in Hong Kong Cinema, which chronicled the development of the Hong Kong cinema's foreign excursions from the post-war years to the late 1980s. The festival also presented the FIPRESCI (International Film Critics Federation) Award, which commends quality films made by Asian directors. The award was shared by director Li Ying's 2H and Pen-ek Ratanarueng's 6ixtynin9.
Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Awards
Jointly presented with the Hong Kong Arts Centre, this annual competition aimed to encourage creative non-commercial independent productions of short film and video in Hong Kong and to promote public interest in film and video as artistic communicative and expressive media.
Other Film Programmes
Besides organising film programmes on its own, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department collaborated with film and cultural institutions such as the Hong Kong Film Awards Association Limited, Alliance Francaise de Hong Kong, the British Council, the Geothe Institut Hong Kong, Videotage and other related film companies in presenting film and video programmes to promote a film culture. The programmes continued to attract much public interest.
Festivals
Hong Kong Arts Festival
The annual Hong Kong Arts Festival has been highly regarded internationally since it began in 1973. The 2000 festival presented 36 programmes including over 120 performances and exhibitions. It was well received with some 93 000 tickets sold, and attendances at the various venues averaging 88 per cent of capacity. Highlights included performances by the Prague National Theatre, the China National Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, versatile artist Cheung Tat Ming on stage solo, and by vocalist Tsai Chin, Anthony Wong and Edwin Lung in Walking with Wings.
Celebration of Hong Kong Performing Arts: A Tribute to the New Millennium
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department presented the thematic festival, Celebration of Hong Kong Performing Arts: A Tribute to the New Millennium that began in late October and would end in early 2001. It aimed at highlighting past
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