Hong Kong FilMart and HAF To Become Virtual Markets Due to Coronavirus

Rebecca Davis editorHong Kong “Mulan” star Donnie Yen this week reiterated his political loyalty to mainland China as he teased work on the upcoming theatrical adaptation of popular video game “Sleeping Dogs” and announced “Golden Empire,” a new China-backed crime thriller.His hometown is currently roiling under the impact of a controversial new national security law imposed by Beijing that strips Hong Kong of many of its former freedoms, which came into effect July 1 — the anniversary of

TikTok said Tuesday it will stop operations in Hong Kong, joining other social media companies in warily eyeing ramifications of a sweeping national security law that took effect last week.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefHong Kong’s new National Security Law gives the city’s police enhanced powers and greater reach into cyberspace.The Special Administrative Region’s government put into effect Article 43 of the new law on Monday night when it gazetted a range of new measures.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterPopular social media platform TikTok will exit Hong Kong imminently following the introduction of China’s new national security law in the semi-autonomous territory.Though the platform was founded in China by developer ByteDance, the app, which is now run by former Disney exec Kevin Mayer, is only available outside of the Middle Kingdom.

said in a statement provided to Axios.The new law, enacted last week an hour before the 23rd anniversary of the city’s handover from British to Chinese control, effectively ends the special legal status the city has enjoyed since 1997 under the “one country, two systems” policy. Among other things, it criminalizes activities broadly defined as secessionist, subversive or terrorism that include advocating for democracy or criticizing the authoritarian government in Bejing.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMassively popular video sharing app TikTok may pull out of Hong Kong within a matter of days.“In light of recent events, we’ve decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong,” a company spokesman told the Reuters news agency.

Rebecca Davis editorFacebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and Google said Monday they have “paused” their processing of requests for user data from Hong Kong law enforcement agencies, days after Beijing’s controversial new national security law came into force in the territory. WhatsApp is “pausing” reviews “pending further assessment of the impact of the National Security Law, including formal human-rights due diligence and consultations with human-rights experts,” a WhatsApp spokeswoman said.

Bradley Whitford is holding the NBA accountable amid the continuing civil unrest in Hong Kong. Last fall, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey expressed support for protesters in Hong Kong who were demonstrating opposition to a proposed law that could see citizens extradited to mainland China despite maintaining a degree of autonomy from the country at large.

Vivienne Chow Hong Kong box office receipts plunged by more than 70% in the first six months of 2020 as audiences stayed away and cinemas shut down amid the coronavirus pandemic.The Hong Kong government closed all cinemas on March 28 as the second wave of COVID-19 brought by returnees began to spread.

Beijing has moved quickly to impose controversial new national security legislation on Hong Kong that severely curtails the territory’s previous freedoms and could mean life in prison for violators — local and foreign alike.Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam called the law “a crucial step to ending chaos and violence that has occurred over the past few months,” saying criticism amounted to “vicious attacks.” Within hours of the law coming into effect late Tuesday night, its presence was

Avril Lavigne took part in the virtual Canada Day celebrations on Wednesday.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorFilmmaker Sam Kadi is no stranger to shooting in unconventional circumstances. For his last film, “Little Gandhi,” he found a novice photographer to capture footage inside war-torn Syria.

Disney is to cut a significant number of jobs in Hong Kong over the coming months, staff have been told.It is understood that the plans, which have been hatching for some months, were explained formally to staff on Friday. Unconfirmed estimates of the number of job losses run from 100-150.

No fireworks doesn’t mean no fun on Canada Day in Toronto.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Start waving, start waving” urged a manager walking behind rows of youthful park staff lined up on both sides of Main Street at Hong Kong Disneyland. It was seconds after 10 a.m.

Hong Kong's Filmart, Asia's largest film and television content market, is going virtual. The international film industry confab previously was postponed from its usual dates in March, as organizers sought to wait out the coronavirus pandemic in hopes of holding a full-scale physical event in August.

Vivienne Chow Battered in its home market in Hong Kong, the once dominant free-to-air TV broadcaster Television Broadcasts (TVB) is eyeing further expansion of its international OTT platform through the co-production of drama series. It also wants a piece of the Asian e-commerce market.The company was once one of the leading broadcasters in Asia and owns perhaps the largest library of Chinese-language content.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterFilmart, the key Asian film and TV market which takes place in Hong Kong, has been forced to migrate its 2020 edition into an online format due to continuing challenges produced by the pandemic.The event had originally been scheduled to take place March 25-28 but moved to August 26-29.