Celestial donates Shaw library to HK Film Archive

Celestial Pictures has donated substantial quantities of pre-print materials, prints and trailers from the Shaw Brothers Film Library to the Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA), an organization committed to the acquisition and conservation of Hong Kong films and related materials. The transfer, which has been taking place over a period of time, was marked by a ceremony held on April 30th.

In attendance was Dr. Louis Ng, Assistant Director of the Leisure and Cultural Services, Shirley Chung, General Manager for Corporate Affairs of Celestial Pictures and a number of film stars and filmmakers including Ti Lung, Gordon Liu and Nora Miao.

Chung pointed out that the Archive was fully equipped to preserve film materials and stated that Celestial Pictures was glad to have the Shaw’s 50 years of archival treasures presented to the Archive as part of Hong Kong’s film heritage.

Celestial’s donation comprises over 700 films including many of Shaw Brothers’ martial arts classics such as THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN and COME DRINK WITH ME. It is the largest single donation that the HKFA has received since opening its doors and will join the Archive’s existing library of over 8,000 films and 890,000 film-related materials.

The HKFA has become a vital part of the preservation and archival of Hong Kong films. In addition to collecting and restoring films and related materials, they sponsor film research and publish film books, often in English or with dual English and Chinese text. HKFA offers a variety of resources to the public ranging from a walk-in resource center and regular exhibitions to a comprehensive online database. Materials can also be made available for research purposes if copyrights allow.

Source: HKFA