Many factors are behind the decline of the Hong Kong movie industry, including the shrinking of the international market, the loss of its leading professionals, and the limited choice of subject matter. The goal of the Hong Kong movie industry now is to return to the glory days. A good opportunity presented itself in 2003, when an agreement was reached with CEPA on the regulations for Hong Kong's movie industry to invest on the broad market of the Chinese mainland.

December 17, 2006 the grand Asian premiere of the Hong Kong film "Confession of Pain" took place in Beijing, and all the stars were on hand for this extraordinary and exciting event.

"Confession of Pain," which is not an action movie, cost 80 million to make, is one of the movies made in recent years that reflect a shift in direction for the Hong Kong film industry. After the movie was screened, its director, Andrew Lau, waited anxiously to see how it would at the box office.

"I wasn't too happy with how it did in Hong Kong,only a little over 20 million when I was expecting to do at least 25 million. I was very happy with how it did on the mainland because I would have thought 50 million was just great, but it has already reached about 80 million. This is fantastic news for me," said Andrew Lau,director.

Box office receipts in 2005 for the film "Seven Swords" reached only 8 million in Hong Kong, but on the mainland it topped 83 million. After the inception of CEPA, Hong Kong movies are no longer subject to the restrictions placed on foreign films shown China's mainland, though they are subject to the review by the Chinese film authorities. As a result, most Hong Kong movies are doing better on the mainland than at home where they have been made. The success of some major Hong Kong productions in recent years has been closely tied to how well they have done on the mainland.

"In the past, movies were shown in Hong Kong at a maximum of twenty or so theaters. Now we make 400 copies and I don't know how many theaters show the movie at the same time. In the past, we only showed our movies in Hong Kong and many people in the audience would say they really liked the film, but things have changed. Now we're distributing throughout China and many in this wider audience will say they enjoy the film. It's really a different feeling," said Eric Tsang, Chairperson of the HK Performing Artistes Guild.

"I am calling on all our directors to take full advantage of CEPA and make some fine movies," said Ng See Yuen, president of the Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild.