Independent Short Film Production Related to College Cine Club

There are certainly a number of amateur (hereafter referred to as non-professional) filmmakers in Hong Kong. I am more familiar with the group centred around and related to the College Cine Club.

In the spring of 1966, Tam Nai-suen, who was working in the Shaw Brothers' script department, sold some jewellery left by his grandmother to purchase film equipment, including an 8 mm camera, projector, and editing machine. In his spare time, he filmed street documentaries and wrote stories, inviting several friends to the countryside to make films. I recall Hal Harrison, Tsang Hing, Sek Kei, and Ada Loke all participated. Concurrently, Ho Fan, also working at Shaw Brothers, began his own amateur film activities. Big City Little Man (8 mm colour film) was a work from this period. The film features characters and a narrative centred on the daily life of a Hong Kong office worker, highlighting the indifference of bustling urban life and the monotony and frustration of a white-collar career. It captured many on-location scenes from the streets and countryside of Hong Kong, and Ho stated that it took considerable time to shoot and accumulate the footage intermittently. Following this film, he collaborated with Lai Yiu-tung, Chow Chung-lim, and others to shoot a 16 mm black-and-white short film titled Gulf (approximately fifteen minutes long), in which he and Helen Lui Oi-yin also acted. This work won first prize at a university film festival in the United Kingdom in 1967, garnering widespread praise at the time. The term ‘experimental film’ subsequently gained popularity in Hong Kong's film circle.

In 1966, the film group of the College Life monthly—predecessor to the College Cine Club—held small screenings, discussions, and forums from time to time. These activities revolved around a group of literary and film enthusiasts who were editors, authors, and readers of College Life and The Chinese Student Weekly. At that time, I edited the film section of the weekly, and frequent contributors who loved cinema included Ada Loke, Sek Kei (Wong Chi-keung), Shu Ming (H. C. Li), Kam Ping-hing, Joe Chan, and Lin Nien-tung. Additionally, a group of university students passionate about drama and film, including Wong Wai-po, Ng Chun-ming, Ng Chun-bong, and Cheung Man-cheung, were core members of College Life. By the end of 1966, under the arrangement of the leaders of College Life and The Chinese Student Weekly, these young friends began preparing to establish the College Cine Club. In the spring of 1967, the club was officially founded and started recruiting members (reaching about two hundred members that year).

The purpose of establishing the College Cine Club was not only to appreciate and study films but also to foster a creative filmmaking environment in Hong Kong. Therefore, from the outset, a shooting section was formed to provide guidance and encouragement to members shooting amateur films. However, even before the club’s establishment, its members had already been involved in filming activities for some time. I will now recount what I remember.

In the summer of 1966, Sek Kei, Law Kar, and Yonfan borrowed all of Tam Nai-suen's 8 mm equipment and began their 8 mm filmmaking endeavours. Their first work, Destiny, shot in Hong Kong and Macau, was left incomplete due to damaged and lost film. It was a narrative short film, depicting a person being tracked, persecuted, and driven to suicide. The production planning was quite organised, with a detailed storyboard. Following that, Lin Nien-tung completed Train (8 mm, black and white, approximately 12 minutes; starring Law Kar and Tung Wo-kwan; photography by Sek Kei) in early 1967. It was an improvised piece with no clear storyline, loosely structured, but visually rich and sometimes impactful. In the autumn of 1967, Law Kar completed Accident (starring Lin Nien-tung, Tung Wo-kwan, and Fredric Mao Chun-fai; photography by Sek Kei; approximately 10 minutes), which was a lyrical story in the style of Cantonese films from the 1950s.

That autumn, an informal screening of experimental film works was held (at Chow Chung-lim's Blue Star Studio). The films screened included Ho Fan's Big City Little Man and Gulf, Chow Chung-lim's Exhibition of Hong Kong Products, Law Kar's Accident, and Lin Nien-tung's Train. In addition to the filmmakers, more than ten people attended, including Dai Tian, Kam Ping-hing, Ada Loke, Xi Xi, Yi Shu, Tam Nai-suen, and Chiu Kang-chien. After the screening, the general consensus was that there was a lack of innovation, the films remained trapped in the storytelling conventions of narrative film, and the technical experimentation was also not bold enough, but this kind of movement was worth promoting.

In the subsequent half-year or so, due to the encouragement of the College Cine Club (mainly through conversations and an atmosphere generated by written publicity; the club never actually supported anyone in making films, only holding an annual film exhibition; there was once consideration of purchasing equipment to rent to club members, but it ultimately failed due to financial reasons), coupled with Ho Fan's Gulf winning an award, Hong Kong's non-professional film production began to attract some attention. As a result, these limited self-made films that were not publicly screened were loosely referred to as 'experimental films'. In reality, the term 'experimental film', as commonly used in film aesthetics and film history, does not apply to these kinds of films. Calling them 'practice films' would be more appropriate; when it comes to experimentation, I don't see anything worth boasting about.

In February 1968, the Exhibition of College Cine Club Members' Works was held at the Hong Kong Baptist College. The participating works included: in 8 mm, Ray Chan's Caged Beast, Lin Nien-tung's Full House, Ho Fan's Jau (colour film), Chiu Tak-hak's Experiment No. 1, and Lo King-man's Single Shot Exercise and Strange Matters at School (colour film, Super 8 mm, both invited works); in 16 mm, Lin Nien-tung's About Three Things, Law Kar's Shadow, and Doming Lam's Practical Film (a television programme film, invited work). The audience numbered approximately two hundred people.

Afterwards, some of the filmmakers and film critics held a seminar to review the results of the presentation. Summarising the opinions of qualified audience members, the following points were made: 1) the films were still more exercises than experiments and lacked a new style; 2) the filmmakers did not pay much attention to techniques such as organisation, pace, lighting, and sound design, and there was too much improvisation; even when there were moments of inspiration, they tended to be scattered and disorganised; and 3) the subject matter was narrow, mostly concerning young people feeling confined within their small world; their ideas were not very complete, and they lacked confidence in the presentation. As for the filmmakers' opinions, everyone admitted that they had not mastered the 16 mm and 8 mm mediums and often conceived ideas in reference to the narrative style they would see on screen. Furthermore, due to financial and equipment limitations, they often had to make do with what they had, even changing their creative intentions.

The period from 1966 to 1968 can be considered the germination stage. The filmmakers were unfamiliar with everything and lacked confidence, so they had to blindly explore. Before this, they had very little experience on film sets (except for Ho Fan), and they did not read much about film production either. They also had no teachers to consult (or if they did, it would only be foreign films, magazines, and theoretical books). Therefore, they were in a primitive state of starting from scratch. As a result, their products had a rough, unrefined, and unconventional feel. At first glance, it might seem very unusual and difficult to accept.

In March 1969, the first Amateur Film Exhibition was held over two nights at the theatre of Hong Kong City Hall and Hong Kong Baptist College. The first night consisted entirely of invited 16 mm works, while the second night mainly featured 8 mm works by members.

The exhibited works included ten 16 mm films: Hal Harrison's Market and Hands; Xi Xi's Milky Way Galaxy; Cheung Suk-fong's Joy of Life; Kam Ping-hing's Chicken Rib; Law Kar's Routine; Chiu Tak-hak's Moulting; Charles Ng's A Justified Rebellion; Ray Chan's Mini Movie: Trend; and John Woo's Secret Killer and nine 8 mm films: Ho Kwok-tao's Equation's Journey; Mo Jai-wan's Split Screen Experiment and Widescreen Experiment; Sek Kei's The Job; John Woo's The Evil One; and Chiu Tak-hak's Door.

The College Cine Club’s Amateur Film Exhibition 70, held in September 1970, was the third and final edition. It was discontinued afterwards due to the dispersal of its core members. All nine films participating in this edition were shot on 16 mm. Charles Ng submitted two short sound films, What the World Needs Now is Love and The Great Chase. Ray Chan filmed the first campus demonstration at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and made The Strike, which was a film with live sound, 25 minutes long, with the film score done by Ng himself. Chan Kai-yat's Meditation documented the lengthy Buddhist practice of members of the Vajrayana Esoteric Society. Chiu Tak-hak filmed Photographs, a 13-minute black and white silent film. Law Kar's Begging was over nine minutes long, with art direction and animation inserts. John Woo had two entries: one was Dead Knot, which he produced, starred in, and co-wrote and was directed by Sek Kei, and the other was Learn by Doing, which he produced, wrote, directed, and starred in. In addition, there was Goldfish, which was produced, written, directed, and shot by Paul Fan and starred Wong Cheung.