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燈光暗了，銀幕亮起，小字淡入。
2017
將來回看，這一年，如同任何一年，一樣會湮沒在悠長的歲月。三月天，香港地，時事翻天，但面前幾許喧鬧，無數紛擾，最終都會淡出，成為過去。
年華如逝水，或緩或急，記憶如雪泥鴻爪，或深或淺。幸好有電影，雕刻時光，紀錄時代，留下亦輕亦重的註腳。
今年，博群電影節以「時代的註腳」為題，在光影中尋找曾經存在過的大小時代，就如開幕電影《甜蜜蜜》（1996，陳可辛），在風雲變色的歷史關頭，書寫小人物飄零的愛情。倏忽二十年，我們既重溫《香港製造》（1997，陳果），亦放映《一念無明》（2017，黃進），香港故事，莫失莫忘。時代流轉，記憶如何不滅？《消失的檔案》（2017，羅恩惠）回溯五十年光陰，展現紀錄片的視野與關懷。
山河萬里，時光有限，但我們仍可安坐校園，看《最好的時光》 （2005，侯孝賢）和《山河故人》（2015，賈樟柯），馳騁於兩岸兩大導演的廣闊想像之中。
一連四周，我們在中大放電影，與老師們討論他們的心頭愛，過一個漫長三月，可走到盡時，該又會感嘆時光匆匆。若說浮生如夢，何妨在通宵放映的晚上，同看九年一遇的 Before 愛情系列，記取這個學期，我們一起看過的電影，一起思索過的時代。
The lights dim. The screen starts glowing. Words fade in.
2017
This year, in retrospect, would have faded away into the mists of time as with any other year; this March, historic changes are due to happen in Hong Kong, and yet, all the tumult would eventually fade out, bygones would be gone.
Time flows like a river. Memories, whether deep or shallow, last no longer than footprints in the snow. Thankfully we have film – a medium that distills time into art and leaves records of bygone ages in both dainty and heavy strokes.
Titled “Once Upon Our Times”, this year’s I·CARE Film Festival takes us on a trip down memory lane to revisit all the past eras as captured on celluloid. Comrades, Almost a Love Story (1996, Peter Chan), our opening film, chronicled the drifting romance of two average Joes as the change of Hong Kong’s sovereignty was nearing.
Two decades fleeted by, but Hong Kong remains close to our hearts as always. Made in Hong Kong (1997, Fruit Chan) and Mad World (2017, Wong Chun) tell the Hong Kong Story from two different times. How to keep memories alive in the fast-changing world? Documentary movie Vanished Archives (2014, Connie Lo) traces the past fifty years and makes it clear that film not only entertains, it inspires and cares just as much.
Life is impermanent. However, blessed ones like us can still sit comfortably and immerse ourselves in the boundless imagination of two master directors – Three Times (2005, Hou Hsiao-hsien from Taiwan) and Mountains May Depart (2015, Jia Zhangke from Mainland China).
In four successive weeks, we will play a fine selection of films and talk with teachers about their favourites. This March is going to be both long and short. If you do agree with the saying that life is but a dream, join our overnight screening of the Before Trilogy which took nine long years to make. Let’s recall the movies we’ve seen and the eras we’ve pondered in this particular semester.