[Screening+Conversation] To Be Continued 尚未完場: A Documentary about the State Theatre 皇都戲院 in Hong Kong

Directed by Haider Kikabhoy & Dora Choi | 2023 | Cantonese, English | Bilingual subtitles | 80 minutes | Documentary

Convenient, tired and vapid, ‘East-meets-West’ is a cliché that has for decades been used to sell the ‘Hong Kong story’ to the world. Yet in the forgotten legend of Harry Odell, Hong Kong’s first impresario, a rediscovery of the city’s soul awaits.

Flamboyant and cigar-chomping, Odell was a Cairo-born, Shanghai-bred Russian Jew who stamped his mark on the cultural life of post-war Hong Kong, His hopeful, if chronically loss-making adventures pushed the cultural frontiers of his adopted home, capturing the open, dynamic and inclusive spirit of a bygone era to leave a legacy that resonates to this day.

What began as a conservation campaign to save the iconic State Theatre in Hong Kong morphed into five years of research and interviews with those who witnessed Odell in action. The result: a film that is as much a study of one indomitable pioneer as it is a soul-searching journey of what defines Hong Kong.

*World Premiere at 2023 Hong Kong International Film Festival

祁凱達、徐岱靈 | 2023 | 粵語、英語 | 雙語字幕  | 80分鐘 | 紀錄片

歐德禮是一個時代，代表一個被遺忘的美麗舊香港。

直到七十年代，歐德禮是連的士司機也耳熟能詳的一代娛樂大亨，今天卻無人知曉。

他是皇都戲院前身 - 璇宮戲院的創辦人，五十年代戰後蕭條，他已一手引入多位國際知名音樂家，永遠叼着一口雪茄見報寫專欄，歐德禮的演藝事業虧損慘重，卻為香港文化開闢了新天地，被稱為「香港文化史前人物」。

然而，九七年皇都戲院結業，歐德禮的輝煌過去彷似正式落幕。

有人不甘心，五年來鍥而不捨去翻查資料，上山下海用盡古怪方法尋覓歐德禮的後人，甚至尋人尋到香港巨星張敬軒家中，赫然發現跨時空的關聯。

在那個白天上映黃飛鴻和林黛電影的大戲院，晚上有名家如 Isaac Stern、Fournier坐鎮，華洋雜處，雅俗共賞，只此一家。標誌香港新時代的大會堂開幕，第一場演奏正是由歐德禮承辦。

五、六十年代那個消失的香港又再被看見：曾經如此兼容並包、不問身世、各種文化互相碰撞，有如初戀般令人心動。

讓我們記得這個故事。

歐德禮和香港的傳奇，尚未完場。

Dora Choi
Dora has been a news feature and documentary director in mainstream media for more than 10 years, focusing on politics and social affairs. She co-founded cultural enterprise Walk in Hong Kong.

Haider Kikabhoy
A fourth-generation Hongkonger with family roots in Mumbai and Guangdong’s Kaiping, Haider co-founded cultural enterprise Walk in Hong Kong. He was formerly a human rights campaigner and an academic researcher on Hong Kong’s architectural history. “To Be Continued” is his first documentary film.

徐岱靈
在主流傳媒製作紀錄片逾十年，題材多涉及香港政治及社會議題。文化企業「活現香港」聯合創辦人。

祁凱達
家族四代均紮根於斯， 祖先來自印度孟買和廣東開平。文化企業「活現香港」聯合創辦人，過往從事人權倡議工作，亦曾參與香港建築歷史的學術研究。這是他首次參與紀錄片製作。