Opportunities and Challenges in Restoring Chinese-language Films
Opportunities and Challenges in Restoring Chinese-language Films
Co-presented by M+ and Hong Kong International Film Festival, this roundtable discussion shares insights from regional institutions and laboratories on film restoration. Featured speakers include Bede Cheng, managing director of L’Immagine Ritrovata Asia, which restored Peter Yung’s The System (1979); Arthur Chu, chairman of the Taiwan Film & Audiovisual Institute, which restored Tseng Chuang-hsiang’s The Woman of Wrath (1984); and Alfred Ng, vice president of programme syndication and distribution of Fortune Star Media Limited, which worked with various film restoration institutions.
The roundtable will be moderated by Li Cheuk-to, M+ Curator-at-large of Hong Kong Film and Media, in Cantonese and Mandarin.
About the Speakers
Arthur Chu worked as a journalist, film critic, and distributor, and has held various roles within the film industry. In recent years, he has dedicated himself to the digital restoration and release of classic Taiwanese films, including A City of Sadness (1989) and Dust of Angels (1992). Through his work, he reinterprets the social, cultural, and grassroots aesthetics of these films, conveying their historical significance to younger generations. Since September 2023, he has served as the chairperson of the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute.
Portrait of Arthur Chu
Alfred Ng is a veteran in Hong Kong’s television and movie content distribution business and worked at ATV Enterprises, Star TV, and Media Asia. Currently, he is the vice president of Fortune Star Media Limited, which owns one of the largest libraries of Chinese movies in the world. Notable collections of the Fortune Star library include legendary titles like Bruce Lee ‘s Game of Death (1978), Big Boss (1971), and Way of the Dragon (1972); Chow Yun-fat’ s A Better Tomorrow series (1986–1989); Jackie Chan’s Police Story series (1985–1992); and Maggie Cheung’s Centre Stage (1991). Fortune Star is dedicated to preserving valuable film negatives and invests a lot of time and resources into digitally restoring classic films (4K/2K) to present them in the highest quality.
Portrait of Alfred Ng
Bede Cheng started his media career in radio production and later worked in various roles in film and television production as an assistant director, line producer, script supervisor, and camera crew. His interest in archival and classic films inspired him to take a film restoration course at the world-renowned film restoration laboratory L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, which led to his current position as managing director of the laboratory’s Asia branch, L’Immagine Ritrovata Asia. He is also a part-time lecturer at various local universities.
Portrait of Bede Cheng