Promising scene

Value additions

"It has been quite inspiring," says Clarence Tsui, director of Hong Kong's Broadway Cinematheque. "Despite the lockdown people have been doing some things outside of the box in terms of how programers and filmmakers are trying to engage audiences with alternative visions of reality and cinema. People do want to go to the cinema. Not because they are suffering from cabin fever. They have been acknowledging that sometimes watching films is a collective experience."

Once the Hong Kong cinemas seemed set for a temporary closure following a government directive, Tsui and his team found their social media platforms buzzing with chatter.

"After the cinemas closed we had a lot of traffic from people saying they wanted them to reopen," says Tsui. "So we started thinking about getting some filmmakers and programers talking about what films they would want to see on the big screen once the cinemas were open again."