| Overview: | The life of Mr. Lai Man-wai had been through several eras of modern Chinese history: from the fall of the Ching dynasty to the birth of the Republic of China, and from the War Against Japanese Invasion war to the founding of the new Peoples' Republic of China.
In his youth Lai Man-wai joined the revolutionary Tong Meng Society and participated in the Huang Fakang Uprising. Through drama activities he propagated the revolutionary concepts. For the ideals of a strong China and mass education he chose film as the ultimate goal of his lifelong struggle. Consequently he became not only the father of Hong Kong cinema, but also one of the very first pioneers of Chinese cinema.
He shot Hong Kong's first short dramatic film "Zhuangzi Tests His Wife", first feature dramatic film "Rouge", first long documentary "Chinese Athletes at the 6th Far East Games in Japan", established Hong Kong's first Chinese-owned movie theatre "New World Theatre".... Within the decades from the founding of Minxin (China Sun) Film Company in Hong Kong to the establishment of Lianhua Film Corporation in Shanghai with Luo Ming-yau, Lai Man-wai spent his whole life and fortune to create a large quantity of fine films, nurture multiple talents before and behind the camera, reform the techniques of cinematography and film processing, and introduce new foreign filming technology to the Chinese film industry. Before and after the War Against Japanese Invasion, Lai's lifelong career was totally destroyed by it, but he still stood his ground as a filmmaker, studying and introducing new technology of film production until his death.
The style of this film is based on the spirit and character of Lai Man-wai: true, rich, direct, touching. Through it we hope more audience can feel the greatness of Lai Man-wai as a man, his films, his time, and have an insight into the history of Hong Kong and Chinese Cinema.
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