Finding New Meanings: Sharing Feelings Through Film in the Age of AI
Short speech for Eye Catcher Global 2025 Awards Ceremony on August 17, 2025
Recently, I read a book called What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory, co‑written by the British musician Brian Eno. It’s a slim, accessible, and inspiring read. I’d like to share a line with you. It says:
“Just as we need science to tell us how the changing world is, we need art to help us find out how we feel about it. We need those feelings to guide our decisions and values. Science discovers; art digests.”
Yes — feelings. The feelings we share through film art connect us tonight, no matter where we come from or what has brought us together.
I feel so many feelings in our Eye Catcher Awards short films and Work‑in‑Progress features: fear, desperation, lost, anxiety — and also hope and strength.
During the ECG 2025, in our Eye Catcher fellow gathering, many of our nominee filmmakers shared the feelings their films wanted to explore and also their own struggles and liberations during the filmmaking.
Ms. Nao Yoshigai even led us doing a session of body exercises to relax and, using her words, to connect flesh and blood together again. It was amazing. We really glad our platform can provide this kind of fellowship, supporting each other with mindfulness.
So, in this age of AI, amid daunting global and local challenges, what can films and filmmakers do? For me, there is a constant that underpins a good film: by sharing our feelings — and how we make sense of them — films help us discover new means and new meanings, rather than chase old ends.
My sincere thanks to our university partners: the Academy of Film at Hong Kong Baptist University; the Journalism & Media Studies Centre at The University of Hong Kong; the School of Creative Media at City University of Hong Kong; the School of Arts and Social Sciences at Hong Kong Metropolitan University; and the School of Communication at The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. Our programme partners: Moving Cinema Film Festival and Ear Up Music. Our venue partner: Soho House Hong Kong.
Finally, my heartfelt thanks to my team — Eric, Edmund, Rita, and Krystel — without whom none of this would’ve been possible in such a short time.
電影在AI時代的新意義
Eye Catcher Global 2025 頒獎典禮致辭，2025 年 8 月 17 日
最近我讀了一本書，名為《藝術之為：一個未完成的理論》（What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory），由英國音樂家布萊恩·伊諾（Brian Eno）合著。這是一本薄而易讀、且富啟發性的書。我想與大家分享其中一句話：
「正如我們需要科學告訴我們不斷變化的世界是怎樣的，我們也需要藝術幫助我們理解自己對此的感受。我們需要那些感受來引導我們的決策與價值。科學發現；藝術消化。」
是的——感受。我們透過電影藝術彼此分享的感受，讓我們在 ECG 相連，不論我們來自何處、為何而聚。
在我們的 Eye Catcher Awards 短片與製作中（Work‑in‑Progress）長片裡，我感受到許多情緒：恐懼、絕望、迷失、焦慮——也有希望與力量。
在 ECG2025 的 Eye Catcher Fellow聚會上，許多入圍的導演分享了他們的作品想要探究的感受，以及他們在創作過程中的掙扎與解放。
吉開菜央女士甚至帶領我們做了一場身體練習，幫助大家放鬆，用她的話說，是讓「血肉再次連結」。太精彩了。我們真的很高興這個平台能促成這樣的互助與同儕關係，以正念互相支持。
那麼，在這個 AI 的時代，在全球與在地挑戰令人卻步的此刻，電影與電影人能做什麼？對我而言，一部好電影有一個不變的根基：透過分享我們的感受——以及我們如何理解它們——電影讓我們發現新的手段與新的意義，而不是追逐舊的終點。
衷心感謝我們的合作大學：香港浸會大學電影學院；香港大學新聞及傳媒研究中心；香港城市大學創意媒體學院；香港都會大學人文社會科學院；以及香港恒生大學傳播學院。感謝我們的節目夥伴：不設劃位電影節與搶耳音樂。感謝我們的場地夥伴：Soho House Hong Kong。
最後，特別感謝我的團隊——Eric、Edmund、Rita 和 Krystel——若沒有他們，在如此短的時間內一切都不可能成事。
Chai Ziwen, Samuel
General Director and Co-Founder
Eye Catcher Global
柴子文
Eye Catcher Global 總監兼聯合創辦人
