HK Cinema - 1909
In 1909 the very first film was produced in HK.
It was called Stealing the Roasted Duck and was financed by an American
- Benjamin Brodsky. He later formed HK's first movie studio - Chinese American
Film - but only one film was made. At that time - similarly to Chinese
Opera - the female roles had to be played by men and it was not until the
1920's before women were allowed to act on the screen.It
was not until 1923 before the first Chinese owned studio was opened in
HK. This was China Sun and though eventually forced to film outside of
HK, their first film Rouge is considered HK's first full length feature
film. Later this company relocated to Shanghai and merged with a number
of other film companies. In the following few years they had success in
making dramatic films with the legendary actress Ruan Lingyui.