The Hong Kong Film Archive was set up in Sai Wan Ho in 2001, to conserve the local film industry’s heritage and promote film research.
 
The idea of creating a film archive got rolling in the 1990s. The founding head of the archive, Cynthia Liu, reveals that its preparation was a great challenge.
 
To preserve and conserve film prints requires specialist knowledge, Ms Liu said, adding the archive had to send staff overseas for training.
 
It also took a great deal of effort to persuade film industry insiders to donate films to the archive.
 
In the early days, collecting films was difficult, but essential. Film producers at the time sent their film overseas to be processed in film laboratories. These became an important source and often uncovered valuable additions for the archive.
 
Ms Liu recalls the time the archive received a note from a film laboratory in London, to say that it had some Hong Kong films – including a precious negative of one of martial arts legend Bruce Lee’s early films, The Orphan. It happened to be a colour version, and such a version was nowhere to be found in Hong Kong. The print was shipped back to Hong Kong, allowing local audiences to appreciate the movie.
 
After 36 years as a civil servant, primarily in the cultural services area, Ms Liu will soon retire. She says she was delighted to have participated in the Film Archive’s development, and believes that it has achieved its original missions.
 
The archive holds regular exhibitions. The latest, “The Foundation of Run Run Shaw’s Cinema Empire”, reviews the local film industry giant’s achievements.