The rise of Golden Harvest in the 1970s can be attributed to the company's “boldness” and “strategic planning”. With its vision squarely focused on horizons stretching far beyond the Hong Kong market, Golden Harvest strayed away from the old studio system, combining a production model that outsourced productions to independent companies with an impeccable eye for talent. Golden Harvest flourished and became the home of internationally renowned superstars and directors such as Bruce Lee, Jimmy Wang Yu, Michael Hui, John Woo, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan. There is no doubt that Golden Harvest played a determining role in the 1980's Golden Age of Hong Kong Cinema.

Golden Harvest founders Raymond Chow and Leonard Ho have a keen eye on potential talents in the industry and allowed great flexibility in their film financing model. In addition to allowing a great degree of creative freedom for their talents, the duo brought Hong Kong cinema to the world with their global distribution network. Over the course of four decades, Golden Harvest produced and financed over 600 films that have been seen and admired by audiences across the globe, covering an assortment of genres. Golden Harvest’s model has allowed many renowned directors like John Woo, Tsui Hark, Ann Hui, Sammo Hung, Stanley Kwan to produce creative works under its auspice. This retrospective intends to examine Golden Harvest's three major development strategies: 1) Ingenuity as the result of careful long-term planning; 2) International Visions; and 3) Creative endeavours in a wide range of genres.

With the assistance of Fortune Star Media Limited, the Hong Kong Film Archive is able to access and screen 58 Golden Harvest films between March and June 2013. Forty of these films have been digitally remastered and converted into high definition digital prints. Fortune Star also agrees to the long term preservation of these screening prints at the Hong Kong Film Archive. The first round of screenings will be held as part of the 37th Hong Kong International Film Festival. "The Cinematic Matrix of Golden Harvest" is presented in six chapters: "The Legend of the Dragons," "Action Rejuvenated, "Comedic Schemes," "Talents Abound", "International Visions" and "Dare to be Unique." They include early works directed by Jimmy Wang Yu, Huang Feng, John Woo and Michael Hui, plus cutting edge films made by young visionary filmmakers, including Patrick Tam's The Sword (1980), Tony Au's I Am Sorry (1989), Alfred Cheung's On the Run (1988) and Gordon Chan's The Final Option (1994).

In association with the retrospective, a special exhibition titled “Golden Harvest, A Landmark in Hong Kong Cinema” and a research publication titled Golden Harvest, Leading Change in Changing Times are also underway.

Partner Organisation: Fortune Star Media Limited