is a Hong Kong-Japan co-production and "all the money came from Japan," Kwan said. He said the problem in post-colonial Hong Kong is that the once-generous flow of funds to films has dried up: "It is a problem getting local financing."
Kwan has worked on several projects involving directors from other Asian countries. "It is necessary to get directors from various parts of Asia to reflect Asian values," he says. By "Asian values" he means staying within the Asian market, he explained.
"Asian regions are very close to one another. For instance, you can go from Hong Kong to Taiwan on a two-hour flight," Kwan said.
He stressed that money, not censorship, is the reason for the collapse in traditional markets for Hong Kong films. Many of Hong Kong's directors have left for greener pastures since the colony was handed back to China in 1997.
"We do have our freedom. Filmmakers have a kind of self-censoring mechanism, however," he said, noting that "the people of Hong Kong do look carefully at box-office potential" for projects there.
The Island Tales is an ambitious film that traces the plight of six characters stranded on an island when it is quarantined as the possible source of a highly contagious virus.
Kwan told a press conference that the island is a metaphor for Hong Kong, itself an island, and that the isolation of the characters is a metaphor for the alienation people in Hong Kong feel.
Among the characters is a Japanese writer, played by Takao Osawau, who has come to the island to convalesce from tuberculosis, and an American-Chinese woman (Michele Reis) visiting the island with her Japanese lesbian lover (Kaori Momoj). Japanese, English, Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese Chinese are all spoken in the film in a mix which Kwan said reflects Hong Kong's multilingual quality.
He said his last film "Hold You Tight" was "an oblique reflection on Hong Kong's confused sense of its own identity during the period of transition to Chinese sovereignty" and that his new film is the second part in a projected trilogy.
The Island Tales is part of competition that will end here February 20 with the award of the Berlinale festival's Golden Bear for best film.
Other Asian films in the competition are "Shonen Gasshoudan" (Boy's Choir) from Japanese director Akira Ogata and "Wo de fu qin mu qin" (The Road Home) from Chinese director Zhang Yimou, and starring one of his newly chosen actress Zhang Ziyi .There are 21 feature films in competition and the jury judging the films is headed by Chinese actress Gong Li.
Kwan gets lost on ``Island'' (2000-02-16)East And West Clash in Premiered Film at Berlin (2000-02-13)Chinese films and stars presented at Berlin film festival (2000-02-12)Stars on the line (1998-09-16)Michele Lee Welcomed in Cannes (1998-06-04)
