AFP will have star billing at this year’s Hong Kong Film Festival, with top journalists from the Agency joining post-screening discussions and a photo exhibition by prize-winning photographer Yasuyoshi Chiba displayed throughout the event.
The 49th edition of the festival, organized by the Alliance Française, runs from 25 November to 15 December and features 40 films that will be screened online and in cinemas. The selection includes a focus on journalists in war zones and will feature panels with speakers from AFP and the directors of the films.
AFP Asia-Pacific Photo Editor-in-Chief Vincent Amalvy will discuss his experiences covering the conflict in the former Yugoslavia at the showing of “Sympathy for the Devil” that depicts the siege of Sarajevo in 1992. AFP Asia-Pacific Director Philippe Massonnet will examine the safety challenges facing war correspondents at the showing of “Camille”, a portrait of journalist Camille Lepage who was killed in the Central Africa Republic. And prize-winning Hong Kong photographer Anthony Wallace will be featured in conversation after the showing of “Looking for Gilles Caron”, that tells the story of the photojournalist who went missing in Cambodia in 1970.
An exhibition of 50 images of Africa shot by Yasuyoshi Chiba, AFP’s photo director for East Africa and the Indian Ocean, will be shown before each screening throughout the festival. Chiba won the 2020 World Press Photo of the Year award for his image of protesters in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
“We are very glad to partner with Agence France-Presse to bring live and in cinema Q&A sessions with film directors who are in France and Canada. We believe this partnership will bring about meaningful and insightful discussions with speakers from AFP.” Jean-Sébastien Attié, director of the Alliance Française Hong Kong, commented.
Massonnet praised the festival’s decision to focus on war journalism. “It is rare for a public festival to put such emphasis on journalism at its most fascinating and also at its most dangerous. AFP is delighted to take part in this event with the Alliance Française at a time when the fight against disinformation and for press freedom is more necessary than ever.”