83 JCC 4 (2) pp. 83–87 Intellect Limited 2010 Journal of Chinese Cinemas Volume 4 Number 2 © 2010 Intellect Ltd Introduction. English language. doi: 10.1386/jcc.4.2.83_7 KEYWORDS Hong Kong cinema lost films missing directors missing period INTRODUCTION STEPHEN TEO AND VIVIAN LEE Introduction: Placing Value in the Missing and the Lost ABSTRACT The concept of lost films and missing directors or missing periods is a fact of life in the study of Hong Kong cinema. However the idea could be turned to advan- tage – as a necessary epistemological process for scholars to study long neglected or simply forgotten parts of a cinema. The meaning of loss here can be extended to also denote a state of neglect and a general unresponsiveness on the part of the critical establishment towards the work of a certain filmmaker, star, a genre, or a particular production company. This Special Issue showcases five articles dealing with differ- ent aspects of ‘loss’ in Hong Kong cinema. Taken together, they map out a topology of ‘rediscovered’ sites that have hitherto been ‘missing’ from critical scholarship. The Hong Kong Cinema is a vast no man’s land of lost films, missing objects, unrecognized directors and other creative personnel. It is hence a film history full of gaps – missing films, personalities, texts, and other undiscovered mate- rials that still await their moments of discovery. There are both objective and subjective conditions for this state of affairs. Objectively speaking, the Hong Kong cinema is huge and complicated, composed of Mandarin and Cantonese cinemas and other dialect cinemas – all with a prolific production history. There are still formidable constraints in conducting research on a cinema such