ENG-1972 — Page 217

PRESS, BROADCASTING AND CINEMA

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Kowloon and to many outlying areas in the New Territories by more than 1,500 miles of trunk lines and another 4,000 miles of installation cabling. There are now 35,000 loudspeakers connected to these sound services, offering a choice of four programmes.

Film Industry

With a thriving motion picture industry, Hong Kong once again maintained the output and quality that has made it one of the world's leading film producing centres.

In the 1960s, Hong Kong's movie industry was producing more than 500 feature films annually; most of which were in Cantonese for the local market. Aware of the saturation point at home, the two leading studios of Shaw Brothers and the Cathay Organisation switched to widescreen Mandarin pictures. These soon won widespread public appeal in Hong Kong and throughout Asia. Today, with Mandarin produc- tions receiving worldwide acclaim, not a single Cantonese feature film is produced in Hong Kong.

Shaw Brothers remains the principal film company following the closure of Cathay's studio but a new motion picture studio, Golden Harvest (HK) Ltd, entered the field in 1970. Shaw Brothers, operating its own highly automated colour labo- ratories, produces more than 40 pictures a year with a target of 50 set for 1973.

In little over two years, Golden Harvest has grown to be the second largest production company in South-East Asia. It began by renting a modest studio in the New Territories, but by late 1971 had taken over the large Cathay studios at Hammer Hill Road, Kowloon. Since then, two Golden Harvest films have broken Hong Kong's all-time box office record previously held by "The Sound of Music', and between them grossed over $7.5 million. Producing an average of 12 films a year, the company achieved another 'first' in Hong Kong movie history when it sent a unit to Rome for extensive location shooting just over a year ago. Yet another breakthrough came in 1972 when Golden Harvest became the first Chinese motion picture company to enter into an equal co-production with a major American studio.

There are 97 cinemas in Hong Kong, with a total seating capacity of 118,355. Attendance figures are among the highest in the world per head of population and amounted to 71,279,000 in 1972.

Films for public exhibition within Hong Kong are subject to censorship in accord- ance with the law and must be viewed by the film censors panel. A total of 7,058 films were submitted for censorship during the year including 130 local productions.

Government Information Services

The Government Information Services is a major link between the government, the people of Hong Kong, and the rest of the world. Utilising all the media, it provides a continual flow of information both locally and overseas. Besides the vital task of communicating the government's aims and achievements, it also monitors local opinion so as to keep the administration informed of the general public's viewpoint.