BAFTA Archive/James Guan Yue
2013
Look East: BAFTA Launches in Asia With Eddie RedmayneA landmark deal between the US and China in 2012 increased the
number of Hollywood films screened in China from 20 to 34, opening up the huge
Chinese market even further to foreign films. With established BAFTA branches
in the UK and US, the prospect of fostering cross-cultural exchange in China
was now too good to ignore, and in December 2013 BAFTA officially expanded its
activity into Asia via Hong Kong and China.
With an advisory board in place to help steer our activity, the
launch included two events with Eddie Redmayne, (an Academy Circle interview
and a masterclass at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts), a Special
Award presentation in honour of cinema legend Sir Run Run Shaw, and an
expansion of the BAFTA Scholarships programme to include Chinese nationals
wishing to study a post-graduate course in film, television or games in the UK.
The next five years would see 12 scholarships awarded, masterclasses with make-up artist Naomi Donne, costume designer Lindy Hemming, actor Hugh Bonneville, action choreographer and director Tony Ching and director Johnnie To, and a presentation by HRH The Duke of Cambridge of a replica BAFTA mask to the Shanghai Film Museum.
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