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

 

Screening + Conversation
To Be Continued 尚未完場

Date: Saturday, 13 May 2023
Time: 15:00 – 17:00 PDT
Venue: Labatt Hall, Room 1700, SFU Harbour Centre (515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, V6B 4N6)
Directions

What began as a conservation campaign to save the iconic State Theatre 皇都戲院 in Hong Kong morphed into five years of research and interviews with those who witnessed Harry Odell, Hong Kong’s first impresario, 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.

The screening will be followed by a virtual conversation with directors Dora Choi and Haider Kikabhoy to be hosted by Dr. Helen Leung (SFU) and Dr. Helena Wu (UBC).

The event is free and open to all.
Limited seats available. Registration required.

Watch the Trailer
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6GICy7Nmpc[/youtube]


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。

 

“One interviewee in the film said that Hong Kong was experiencing first love in the 1950s, just as this documentary is a love letter to my homeland.” –– Director Dora Choi
「很喜歡片中一段訪問,說五十年代的香港好比一場初戀。這套紀錄片正是我給這個城市的情書。」–– 徐岱靈 導演

 

“Hollywood Road was the stage of my childhood memories: the stone steps, steep lanes, antique dealers and the smell of cumin in the air. I also grew up listening to the tales my mother told about lost theatres in Yau Ma Tei – this planted in me a fascination with the forgotten stories of old Hong Kong. Through the legendary story of Harry Odell, I hope to rediscover the spirit of this land with you.” –– Director Haider Kikabhoy

 

「荷李活道附近的石階斜巷、古董舖和香料店內的小茴香是我的童年回憶。 從小聽母親訴說昔日油麻地各大戲院的奇聞軼事, 自此沈迷發掘在歷史夾縫裡的香港故事,希望透過歐德禮的傳奇故事,跟大家一起重新發現這個地頭。」 –– 祁凱達 導演

 


This screening+conversation is co-organized by the Institute for Transpacific Cultural Research, Simon Fraser University and the UBC Hong Kong Studies Initiative, University of British Columbia.


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