A Proud Legacy Being Neighbourly x Eli Bitan, The Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival
Read the full article here: https://beingneighbourly.com/articles/a-proud-legacy/ It’s been over 30 years since Eli Bitan, Chairman of the Hong Kong Jewish Festival (HKJFF), left his native France and touched down in Hong Kong. The former banker-now investor has served in his current role of festival Chairman since 2017, but his involvement as a board member goes back to 2003. According to him, Jewish people love nothing more than to talk about their past and films are an excellent vehicle for storytelling. In the 25 years of the HKJFF’s existence, there have been a lot of stories and to celebrate its 25th anniversary, 25 more films will be shown this year and added to the catalogue with the festival extended by three days. Films are being shown at two venues this year— the Cineart (JP) in Causeway Bay and the “neighbourhood” Golden Scene Cinema in Kennedy Town. Unknown to some, who conjecture that the HKJFF is a business, says Bitan, the HKJFF is actually a registered charity, says Bitan, that runs on donations from tiered sponsors. “Many are legacy sponsors who have been donating for many years,” he adds. Despite the impressive list of films and sponsors on this year’s program, Bitan is circumspect, “Although we are 25 years old, I think of the Jewish Film Festival as the child to the French Film Festival’s parent,” he says, with a smile. To outsiders, however, his is a smooth and well-synthesised operation. The charity has a 10-person board, a viewing committee and a well-established process and timeline they revert to each year. Why, after all, reinvent the wheel? “Every year in Spring, the viewing committee starts viewing some 200 films in batches. We have contact with distributors who are printing certain films and reference the big festivals such as those in Berlin, Cannes and Jerusalem to establish our lineup, and...
