Per aspera ad astra – Concert films by HKS

Hong Kong Sinfonietta made a ground-breaking move to create its own concert-based feature films as Hong Kong faced its first pandemic closures of venues in 2020.  The series named “Back On Stage” was filmed in the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall with 4K cameras and direct sound recording (making use of the natural acoustics of the hall). In association with MOViE MOViE (Hong Kong-based art cinema), “Back On Stage II (Quarantined!)” made its round in Hong Kong for more than 20 cinema screenings, and along with “Back On Stage Concert”, made its début on the Taiwan film screens. Meanwhile, “Back On Stage III: DESTINY” opened the “Life is Art” film festival in the summer of 2021, which made RTHK’s “Top 10 Music Headlines” of the year. Following in the footsteps of the orchestral films, the chamber concert films – “Vive la Musique!” and the pot-pourri of international stars playing at an eclectic hideaway in Sham Shui Po in “All-Star Tiny Galaxy@Wontonmeen” – both made their début at the film festival.