Financial drama as arts council pulls subsidy for awards

The organizer of a long-running drama awards says it is facing its own drama of "unprecedented challenges" after the Arts Development Council pulled the plug on its subsidy.

The Hong Kong Federation of Drama Societies said it was preparing for this year's Hong Kong Drama Awards when it received two letters from the Arts Development Council last month to say it would stop subsidizing the awards.

"The council said it has received external inquiries ... that the content of the awards ceremony last year damaged or adversely affected the reputation of the council, directly or indirectly," the federation posted.

It said the council decided to deduct the final installment of funding for last year's ceremony after watching its video recording. The federation added: "We were surprised by the council's hasty decision."

It said it was also informed it will lose the subsidy for the awards event this year due to "intense competition and limited resources."

Last year's June 14 drama awards ceremony was held at Kwai Tsing Theatre, with presenters including political cartoonist Wong Kei-kwan, known as Zunzi, and journalist Bao Choy Yuk-ling.

The federation said it received verbal notification from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department that it could not provide or sponsor a venue to hold the ceremony this year despite the event being held at LCSD venues for 20 years.

"It is the oldest award in local drama and the ceremony has been supported by the government and the industry for years," the federation noted. "We will hold the ceremony this year in recognition of the outstanding performance of stage practitioners, but there will definitely be changes due to lack of resources."

The council said it had sponsored the ceremony since 1999 but received complaints that last year's ceremony had "inappropriate content and arrangement."

It added: "All art groups receiving our subsidies are required to obey Hong Kong laws and cannot damage the council's reputation."

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com