Creativity and commercial viability 資助電影發展創意生意並重

HONG KONG'S film industry has again made amark at an international film festival. Echoesof the Rainbow has won the Crystal Bear forbest feature film in the Generation section at the BerlinFilm Festival. The film would not have been shot butfor a subsidy from the Film Development Fund (FDF).

One may say the award evidences the FDF's goodwork.

In 2007, the government injected $300 million intothe FDF, which supports small- and medium-budgetfilming making. The maker of a film whose productionbudget does not exceed $12 million may receive 30%of it from the FDF. (The figures will soon be raised to$15 million and 40% respectively.) The mostremarkable example is perhaps McDull, Kung FuKindergarten. The animation's mainland box-officereceipts total 70 million yuan. So far the FDF has paidout about $38.77 million to finance 14 films.

Initially, the funding scheme was not very wellreceived. Filmmakers said such financing was too little,too late. Furthermore, as film projects must beidentified as commercially viable, some filmmakerssaid the FDF emphasised pecuniary returns at theexpense of creativity. However, as the FDF's moneycomes from the public purse, it is right to requireapplicants to cater to popular taste and avoid financingfilms targeted at narrow audiences. That is in keepingwith the principle that public money must be well spent.

A chief purpose of financing film projects is to boostthe development of the creative industry, and people inan industry should aim at producing what is popularrather than what is too highbrow to be marketable.

However, though the FDF should avoid financingprojects that may not be commercially viable, it shouldattach importance to creativity to encourage originality.Only if the films it finances win critical acclaim anddraw huge audiences may one say it has fulfilled itsmission.

The FDF requires applicants to submit theirscripts. Some filmmakers have said that amounts tocensorship. Some are worried that the governmentmay use the FDF to discourage filmmakers fromcriticising social phenomena or to rope in creativeworkers. So far no filmmakers have complained theyhave been denied financing because their projectstouch on sensitive issues. However, Brian Tse andAlice Mak, the creators of McDull, Kung FuKindergarten, the biggest box-office success the FDFhas financed, have come under fire on the Internetbecause Donald Tsang appears together with McDullcharacters in So Happy to Be Home, an animation clipwith which he has offered citizens his Lunar New Yeargreetings. Their fans say they have sold McDull's soul.

McDull, Kung Fu Kindergarten, which the FDFfinanced, is a huge box-office success. However, thegovernment has asked its creators to make the ChiefExecutive's Lunar New Year clip. People cannot helpbut suspect it has tried to recruit the creative workersto its team of political beauticians. The FDF has comeunder suspicion for no fault of its own. Not only has itsindependence been called into question, but thecartoonists have damaged their own reputation too.

The government has injected money into the FDF,but it insists that no officials should take part inapproving applications. That rests with people in theindustry. The government has done so to avoid beingaccused of attempting to curtail the freedom of artisticcreation. That is good. However, it is even better forthe government to distance itself from fundingrecipients lest it should come under suspicion.

資助電影發展創意生意並重

明報社評

2010.02.22

香港電影再次揚威國際影展，電影《歲月神偷》奪得柏林影展「新世代」最佳影片水晶熊獎。此片獲香港政府的電影發展基金注資才得以開拍，這次獲獎，電影發展基金可說是交出了漂亮的功課。

香港電影發展基金於2007 年獲政府注資3 億元，資助中低成本的電影製作，預算製作費須不超過1200 萬元，最高可獲資助三成（即將放寬為1500 萬元及四成），過去最成功的例子可算是動畫電影《麥兜响噹噹》，該片內地票房大收7000 萬元。基金至今共資助了14 套電影，撥款約3877 萬元。

資助計劃初期不被看好，電影業界批評金額太少、資助來得太遲，此外，由於電影基金要求電影「符合商業效益」，有業界人士批評基金太重視金錢回報，忽視創意。電影基金來自公帑，要求電影照顧公眾口味、避免資助過分小眾的電影，是符合公帑必須用得其所的原則。資助香港電影的其中一個重要原因，就是要推動發展「創意產業」，既然是產業，必須顧及市場反應，不能孤芳自賞。惟在合乎商業原則這條件之上，基金也應多考慮申請人的創意，鼓勵創作，最終希望申請資助的電影能「叫好又叫座」，電影基金才可算是「功德圓滿」。

由於申請資助的電影必須提交劇本予基金審核，曾有業界批評此舉猶如劇本審查，也有人擔心政府藉批出金錢資助來打壓電影業對社會的批判聲音，甚或是拉攏創作人。迄今為止，雖然沒有電影人投訴因為題材敏感而不獲基金批出資助，但基金過去最成功的資助動畫電影《麥兜响噹噹》，其原創者麥家碧及謝立文最近卻在網絡上備受批評，原因是特首曾蔭權今年製作了拜年短片「回家真好」，找來麥兜等漫畫人物一同亮相，漫畫創作人被擁躉批評「出賣麥兜的靈魂」。

麥兜漫畫獲電影基金資助並賣個滿堂紅，政府卻邀請漫畫的創作人為特首創作賀年漫畫，如此的安排難免被人質疑是拉攏創作人加入政府的化妝隊伍，同時令電影基金蒙上了不白之冤，既打擊基金的獨立性，漫畫創作人也損害了自己的聲譽。

政府注資電影基金，堅持不派出官員審批撥款，全盤交由業界負責，就是要避免被指干預創作自由，這是很好的做法；如果政府能夠與接受資助者保持距離，避免瓜田李下之嫌則更佳。

G lossary

viable /'vaI b( )l/that will be successful.

highbrow /'hIabra ʊ/concerned with or interested in serious artisticor cultural ideas.

acclaim / 'kleIm/praise and approval.