Hong Kong's film industry is joining various sectors in the community to demonstrate its fighting spirit against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

According to Cheung Tung Joe, chairman of the Hong Kong Film Awards Association, a total of 14 directors have offered their services to the making of 12 short films on SARS.

These include individual works from Wong Kar Wai, Tsui Hark, Peter Chan, Fruit Chan, Stephan Chow, Joe Ma, Brian Tse, Johnnie To, Teddy Chan as well as team works from Alan Mak and Andrew Lau, and Alex Law and Mabel Cheung.

The shorts are aimed at raising morale and rebuilding confidence in Hong Kong, says Cheung. There will be different versions: a one-minute version will be broadcast on television as API (announcement in the public interest) while a longer version, the director's cut, may be screened at cinemas and web-cast on the Internet.

The first batch of six to seven short films will be released in mid-June, followed by the rest in mid-July.

The association is also looking into the possibility of turning the behind-the-scenes footage of the various short films into a production special in order to generate extra funding to address the community's SARS-related concerns.

The shorts are produced with a $640,000 (HK$5m) sponsorship from the Hong Kong Government.

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