Hong Kong Film Festival 2020 Cancelled Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

The Hong Kong International Film Festival, set to have taken place in the second half of August, has been cancelled.nAccording to Variety, the 44th edition of the film festival was previously rescheduled in March, due to the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak. Afterwards, the dates had changed to August 18 and later, August 31. But, the organisers on Friday bowed to the inevitable and announced the cancellation of HKIFF44 and the smaller Cine Fan activities in September and October. Section 375: Akshaye Khanna – Richa Chadha’s Film to Be Screened at 23rd Shanghai International Film Festival in China

They said that the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), one of Asia's longest-running film project markets, will go ahead as planned in virtual form. It will run on August 26-28.nAlbert Lee, the executive director, said, "While it is tremendously deflating, given all the hard work that we have put in, the well-being of our colleagues and the public is of utmost importance to us. Kashish 2020: 11th Edition of LGBTQIA+ Film Festival to Have a Virtual Screening of 157 Films from 42 Countries

Calling of HKIFF44 is heartbreaking, but we believe we have a duty to behave with social responsibility. We will start working in the next edition of the festival straight away. We are determined to make up for the 'lost' HKIFF44." Last month it was announced that Hong Kong FilMart, the largest film rights market in Asia, had given up on plans to be held in physical form this year. Instead, FilMart will migrate to a virtual platform, FILMART Online, running August 26-29, 2020.

The problem at the time was not specific to Hong Kong, but more reflected other cities being put on lockdown, and travel difficulties among Asian territories.nCinemas have been closed for nearly two weeks, restaurants and bars must close at 6 pm, and mask-wearing has become compulsory on public transport and at all indoor public spaces, such as shopping malls.