The Hong Kong Film Archive’s Conservation Unit dedicates itself to preserving the city’s rich film heritage. The unit restores film stocks so that audiences can enjoy the original look of old iconic movies.

Preparing the film begins with it being checked by hand. The unit then cleans off all the debris before repairing it.

A special heat and acid resistant tape is used to repair damaged film.

Hong Kong Film Archive Assistant Curator I (Conservation) Koven Lo said there are many difficulties in storing film reels in a hot and humid place like Hong Kong.

“A lot of the film we receive has shrunk or become deformed, and sometimes its colours have faded due to the heat.”

After repairing the film, it is put into a scanner for digitisation.

Image and audio quality can be enhanced using the digital film restoration system.

After restoring the movie, it is saved as a digital file and duplicated to celluloid film. The film can last for more than a century when stored in a cool, dry environment.

The digital file can be used for public screenings while the celluloid film is stored safely in a film vault.

Reel challenge

Last year, the Film Archive completed restoring Emperor Zhengde's Night Visit to the Dragon & Phoenix Inn, which premiered in 1958.

It is the first film digitally reconstructed and restored solely by the Film Archive. It took nearly a year to complete the work.

Hong Kong Film Archive Laboratory Technician Penny Wong, who worked on the project, said 11 minutes of the film was badly damaged and the colours had mostly faded.

“We set the scanner to the slowest speed. Throughout the scanning process, we were very careful. Finally, we captured the image and audio file successfully.”

This year’s Budget set aside $20 million for the Film Archive to employ additional technicians and acquire specialist equipment for digital conversion of sole copies of films and celluloid films in urgent need of archiving.

The move will enable younger generations to learn about and appreciate Hong Kong’s precious film heritage.

The Hong Kong Film Archive plans to digitise 150 older movies in the next five years.

Mr Lo noted that watching classic movies can also be of cultural value to the public.

“Through old films, we get an insight into people’s lives and our city in the past. Preserving film and restoring its original image is important to the community and scholars.”