More than 40 film scholars, professionals and students make up The Hong Kong Film Critics' Association.

The Association was established in July 1995 and was financially supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.

Its aim is not only to cultivate Hong Kong’s very own film culture, but also to generate improvements in the industry.

Mr. Stephen Lam is the treasurer of Hong Kong Film Critics’ Association.

“Being a film critic is not a full-time career for most of our members,” said Mr. Lam.

Nearly all members have their own full time jobs apart from their responsibilities in the Association.

The Chairman of the Association, Mr. Sze Man Hung, is no exception.

The Association contributes to promote the film industry by presenting film history, organising the Golden Bauhinia Awards and publishing the “Film Critics’ Quarterly”. They also work with the Hong Kong Art Critics Alliance to hold film courses and workshops.

According to Mr. Lam, the Association is doing a big project to organise film history.

“The Hong Kong Film Archives assigned the project. About 3,000 films representing the historic and cultural heritage of Hong Kong film industry will be involved,” said Mr. Lam.

Part-time writers are hired to watch the assigned films and give summaries to those stories.

Mandy is an officer of the Film Critics’ Association. She said that 200 films were constantly borrowed from the Hong Kong Film Archives every month for the project.

The Association has its own position.

Mr. Lam said, “We are different from other film critics’ organisations. The Hong Kong Film Critics Society publishes articles that are more academic in nature. They are guiding readers to a more practical way of understanding movies,” Mr. Lam said.

“Our approach is much softer. We try not to be serious about everything. There must be different angles, apart from the academic one.

” Since they prefer more varieties, some of their members' articles are published.

Mr. Lam added that the Association’s web-site provides a place for audience to exchange ideas.

“That’s another place that we can communicate with the public,” said he.

Apart from content of a story, according to Mr. Lam, a film critic also pays attention to the subtitles and details so as to give a more informative and comprehensive analysis.

The criteria used in film commentation are quite subjective.

“People have their own preferences. One may prefer artistic movies while others may prefer investigative movies. It is difficult to comment objectively which movie is better,” Mr. Lam said.

Still, some general criteria are used.

The first one is the quality of technical control. According to Mr. Lam, a good movie should be well edited so that there is a smooth flow of shots.

The position of camera should be placed carefully to grasp good shots. The movie should also be comprehensive.

The second criterion is the performance of talents.

Mr. Lam thinks that an actor should not confine himself to past roles. A breakthrough should be sought in his method of expression.

“A good actor should always challenge his own limitations so as to make the movie more realistic.

“The performance of Anthony Wong in ‘Ordinary Heroes’ sets a good example,” Mr. Lam said.

Regarding the local film industry, Mr. Lam thinks that local people love to earn quick money. When a certain theme or genre is popular, many similar ones will appear.

“Film production in Hollywood is more systematic. They follow production plans strictly,” Mr. Lam added.

To him, local film production lacks long term planning, though this allows more flexibility and changes.

Watching movies is a film critic’s job. Mr. Lam has already watched 1,000 to 2,000 movies.

The most unforgettable experience is watching five movies a day at Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Having been in the Association for nearly four years, Mr. Lam talked about the qualities of a film critic.

He thinks that both interest and knowledge in film production are essential. Passion for movies and good writing skills are also necessary.

To start a career as a film critic, he suggested that one could submit his articles to newspapers or the Film Critics’ Quarterly.