The Father of Hong Kong Cinema: Lai Man-Wai

The “Father of Hong Kong Cinema,” Lai Man-wai made the city’s first-ever film and paved the way for Chinese cinema. A founder of one of the largest production houses in Shanghai in the 1930s, Lai’s unwavering ambition was to use cinema as a tool for education and political reform. The fruits of his labor allowed the public to experience the wonders of the moving image for the first time. A revolutionary and a patriot, Lai even brought scenes of warfare into cinemas, recording a tumultuous period in Chinese history.