Art of Commercials, one of the most popular signature moving image programmes of the Hong Kong Arts Centre, will take place from 17 June to 3 July 2021 at the Louis Koo Cinema of the Hong Kong Arts Centre. It continues to present outstanding work from the best advertising festivals from around the world! In the midst of the pandemic, advertisers keep up with their drive of creativity and determination to move the world and cheer for us! The programme will present commercials from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Spikes Asia, the AICP Show, the Best of British Arrows from the past 40 years and Made in Lockdown, the Seoul Creative Festival by TVCF and the Kam Fan Awards Hong Kong. It is not all about products and entertainment, but it is also about exploring what humans and our world need.
There will be a series of after-screening talks by our local and overseas guest speakers, including Matthew Miller, President & CEO of the AICP (Association of Independent Commercial Producers); Budming, Hong Kong ad veteran; and Patrick Suen, hallyu columnist. They will share their insights in how advertising festivals encourage creativity at our talks, and the trends of moving image commercials in popular culture today.
Individual tickets and a tickets package are available at www.art-mate.net now. The tickets package includes tickets for all the programmes 1 to 5. Further discounts are available for group bookings of over 20 tickets, please visit the Hong Kong Arts Centre website for further details.
ART OF COMMERCIALS 2021: Programme details
Programme 1: Selection from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2019
17/6 (Thu) 8pm
20/6 (Sun) 8pm
3/7 (Sat) 8pm – With after-screening talk
103 mins｜Digital｜Colour｜In English, Norwegian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Mandarin, Thai with English subtitles
Inspired by the Cannes Film Festival, a group of advertisers felt the need to recognise and honour the creativity of advertising, and founded the International Advertising Film Festival in Venice, Italy, which later became Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity that now takes place in Cannes, France. It has become the most internationally recognised and influential advertising event. Only the world's best work can enter its competition. When a bot writes a commercial script for a famous burger brand, you'd still laugh and eat it without knowing what it's talking about anyway. Aside from us, who are also working hard behind their computers? What have stood the test of time are not just the good things, but also racism – time for more change. In the spirit of sportsmanship, all colours are equal. Have a crush on him/her? Talk to him/her! “Step out of your head!” When you're doing things that many don't agree with, forget the haters, because all you need is love
Programme 2: Selection from the Kam Fan Awards Hong Kong 2019 & Spikes Asia 2021
18/6 (Fri) 8pm
26 /6 (Sat) 3pm
1/7 (Thu) 2:30pm – With after-screening talk
125 mins｜Digital｜Colour｜In Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Tagalog, Cantonese, Mandarin, English with English subtitles
Commercials of the Kam Fan Awards are certainly the closest to our lives in Hong Kong. It also showcases internationally collaborated works. There's always a fried chicken that's meeting you under a full moon. That chicken is so delicious that it'll make you sing. There's a watch commercial claiming that “it's good enough to be loved regardless of the duration”, but isn't it also good to “love and to cherish, till death do us part”. Do you recognise your mother when you smell her? Preserve our heritage, let our next generations pass on. Asia's top creative all gather at Spikes Asia! Works from Thailand, Japan and the Philippines are so quirky that they can blow your mind! While you laugh, you also gape. (Please don't choke) Singaporean work shows care towards its people – even when your body and mind face challenges everyday, you're not the darkness that you endured; you're the light that refused to surrender. Taiwanese commercials are sensitive to your senses and needs. Indian commercials take social issues centre stage, and give people their voice with humour and courage. There will be a talk by ad veterans after one of the screenings.
Programme 3: Selection from the AICP Show 2020
19/6 (Sat) 4pm
23/6 (Wed) 8pm
1/7 (Thu) 8pm – With after-screening talk, conducted in English.
Guest speakers: Matthew Miller, CEO & President of the AICP – Elaine Chow (Budming), Hong Kong ad veteran
90 mins｜Digital｜Colour｜In English only
The AICP Show, The Art & Technique of the Commercial, is more than just an awards show judging the best commercials created in the moving image. It's an ongoing archival project with cultural and artistic significance. Since the Show's inception in 1992, the honoured work is preserved in The Museum of Modern Art's Department of Film's state of the art archives for future generations to study and are available for use or exhibition by the museum's curators. How do American commercials address the issues that youngsters face these days? How do they help them? As advocates push for change, they tackle present-day realities with courage. Bill Murray is stuck in Groundhog Day again! But as the day repeats, he's also developed smarter ways to live the day. He jumps onto a jeep and pursues the lifestyle that he wants. Happy plastic bricks jump out of the box and build a new world! President and CEO of the AICP, Matthew Miller, will be in virtual conversation with Hong Kong ad veteran, Elaine Chow (Budming), after one of the screenings. The talk will introduce how the AICP Show selects its works, its recent global call for entries and how a trade association and an awards show can help and celebrate the industry.
Programme 4: The Best of British Arrows and Special Showcase: Made in Lockdown 2020
19/6 (Sat) 8pm
22/6 (Tue) 8pm
25/6 (Fri) 8pm
75 mins｜Digital｜Colour｜In English only
The British Arrows awards the most outstanding British moving image commercials every year. The best work of British advertising from the past 40 years is sprinkled with English humour, it also exudes an endearing old-school charm. Let's feel the passage of time! As the pandemic was raging in the UK last year, the awards show was cancelled, but the British Arrows smartly came up with the special showcase, Made in Lockdown, to address our challenging present! How do advertisers overcome difficulties creatively? A television proclaims that its picture is the most life-like in 1977. Film director Wes Anderson celebrates Christmas with you in the style of The Grand Budapest Hotel. A boy band farms, sings and eats yoghurt with you. A spoof on an American soccer coach's cultural clash in England will tickle your funny bone. Kevin Hart wants to become David Beckham. What? When we want to see our loved ones during lockdown, at least we've tried, “It's not the best get-together, but it's the best way to get together.” How do people drink tea in England when they need to social distance? A funny guy drives with a song to “dream the impossible dream.”
Programme 5: Selection from the Seoul Creative Festival by TVCF 2020
20/6 (Sun) 4pm
24/6 (Thur) 8pm
27/6 (Sun) 3pm – With after-screening talk, conducted in Cantonese.
Guest: Patrick Suen (Hallyu columnist)
79 mins｜Digital｜Colour｜In Korean with English subtitles
The Seoul Creative Festival by TVCF is the largest moving image commercial festival of Korea. All featured works are Korean. With the motto, “With the majority's perspective, with fairness”, all works are chosen by media professionals and netizens. When teenagers do not know their rights when they get employed, they get easily exploited. How can they be protected? Child trafficking and abuse are frequent, is there any way to help parents safeguard their little ones? Augmented reality (AR) brings physically challenged children to new worlds. A mobile app helps deaf-mute people communicate with their families. No matter how busy you are, get prepared and wait for the opportunity to realise your thoughts. Gong Yoo helps you with your everyday needs. The uncle with the firm guns, Ma Dong-seok, enjoys great sounds from another realm with you. Hallyu columnist, Patrick Suen, will chat about the Korean society in commercials after one of the screenings.
