Hong Kong’s ViuTV Embraces Disruption and Finds Success

For his Oscar-nominated short documentary Do Not Split, director Anders Hammer spent a year in Hong Kong’s streets, capturing the drama and chaos as China cracked down on pro-democracy protests. The work came with inherent danger.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNorwegian director Anders Hammer did not set out to make another war film when he traveled to Hong Kong in 2019 to document the political protests that had brought an estimated two million people to the streets of self-proclaimed Asia’s World City.Hammer has previously chronicled real, hot war situations in Kabul and Iraq. There, bullets and rockets were flying daily, and more lives were in imminent danger.

TheHong Kong International Film Festivalhas scrapped its opening-night world premiere of Where the Wind Blows, a widely anticipated crime thriller directed by local industry veteran Philip Yung.

Vivienne Chow Dedicating her time and energy to strategizing ticket purchases for a young idol was never part of Chung Ling’s life plans. This 40-something-year-old working mother says she gave up on Hong Kong’s once huge Cantonese-language pop scene, a decade ago.

Derek Tsang's youth drama Better Days, nominated this year for the best international film Oscar, has given Hong Kong its first shot at Academy Awards glory since Farewell My Concubine got the nod in 1993. But in a mysterious move, it appears that the Oscars ceremony is set to go unaired in Hong Kong for the first time in over 50 years.

Bloomberg).But the move comes amid reports that China’s Communist party told all local media outlets to downplay live coverage of the ceremony stemming from the nomination of the documentary short “Do Not Split,” which focuses on the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, and past comments made by Chinese-born “Nomadland” director Chloé Zhao.Other local TV broadcasters in Hong Kong also do not have the broadcast rights, as reported by the Hong Kong news outlet The Standard.Also Read: Why

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Hong Kong International Film Festival has announced the cancelation of its world premiere screening of crime thriller “Where the Wind Blows.” The move appears to be part of the accelerating ‘mainlandization’ of Hong Kong’s entertainment industry.The festival said Monday evening in a statement that screenings of “Where the Wind Blows” (previously known “Theory of Ambitions”) had been cancelled at the request of the film’s owner.“Upon request from the film

Despite securing its first Oscar nomination since 1993, Hong Kong looks set to not broadcast the Academy Awards this year after local station Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) opted not to renew its deal.

Better Days,” the territory’s leading free-to-air TV network Television Broadcasts (TVB) will be dropping television coverage of the Oscars ceremony.The network Monday confirmed that it did not have rights to broadcast the show this year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Godzilla vs. Kong” jumped straight to the top of the South Korean box office in its opening weekend.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefIn Hong Kong, where unsmiling mainland Chinese authorities have asserted their “comprehensive jurisdiction,” satire has become a dangerous form of humor. But at least one new satirical segment is soon set to brave the Special Administrative Region’s airwaves.From next month, activist and broadcaster James Ockenden is launching “The Alphard Wars” on RTHK.

Warner Bros./Legendary’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” is providing some reasons for hope in Hollywood, as the film opened in 38 countries this weekend ahead of its U.S.

Vivienne Chow An award-winning documentary about Hong Kong’s 2019 protests that has been effectively banned in its hometown has been set as the showpiece of the Taiwan International Documentary Festival.“Inside the Red Brick Wall” will play as the festival’s opening film, organizers announced on Thursday. The festival is set to run April 30 – May 9, 2021.The film chronicles the 13-day standoff between police and protesters at Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University in November 2019.

EXCLUSIVE: MGM is in advanced negotiations for a multi-territory pre-buy of writer-director Zach Braff’s feature A Good Person, we can reveal.

NBC News confirmed.The 51-year-old actor made individual $10,000 GoFundMe donations to the families of Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Xiaojie Tan and Yong Yue under his birth name: Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong.“The Hangover” and “Community” scene-stealer, whose parents migrated to the US from South Korea, also shared the crowd-sourced fundraisers to his Twitter account so that others could contribute too.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefDespite a period of recent worries for Chinese tech firms, video entertainment firm Bilibili has confirmed details of its secondary share listing in Hong Kong. It set a maximum price of HK$988 per share, some 12% higher than the $113.31 Tuesday night close for its ADR form shares which are traded on the NASDAQ.At that price the company is expected to raise $3.2 billion (HK$24.7 billion).

Hong Kong protests was nominated for an award, according to a new report. The Communist Party’s propaganda department issued the order to all media outlets, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources.

The Chinese government has told local media to curb its coverage of the Oscars ceremony next month due to its concerns about the political views of Best Director nominee Chloe Zhao and the nomination of a short documentary about the Hong Kong protests.