When we seek to understand the historical evolution of any cinema, whether it is Chinese or Indian or German, it is always useful to bear in mind that cinema is a cultural practice

Kwok-Kan Tam is professor in the Department of English at the Chinese University of HongKong.

Wimal Dissanayake,an adjunct fellow of the Ease-West center in Hawaii,is currently scholar-in-Residence at HongKong Baptist University.