ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how China became a prevailing and irresistible factor in Hong Kong’s film production sector which has always been the central pillar of the cultural industry. It outlines the problems faced by Hong Kong’s film industry and take a look at China-Hong Kong co-production from a historical perspective. The chapter analyzes the direct and indirect influences from China as well as their mechanisms by examining industrial data, media reports and information from interviews with filmmakers. In over a century’s development of Hong Kong cinema, overseas markets were the lifeline to the industry as this former British colony with a few million population could hardly support a flourishing film industry. Hong Kong filmmakers were stuck in a historic moment in 1998 when Hong Kong was trapped in the Asian financial crisis. The quickening pace of mainlandization— changes due to censorship vested on films— prevails.
