Group photo of the guests at the opening ceremony of the 39th HKIFF in Hong Kong, March, 23, 2015. [Photo/CRIENGLISH.com]

This year's festival has also drawn the film industry's critics and pundits.

One of the areas under discussion is the development and adaptation of "new media" into the film industry.

Tom Ara is a shareholder of entertainment and media law firm Greenberg Traurig.

"Under the studio 2.0 model, the online platform has direct access to the subscriber. They know what that subscriber is watching, when they are watching it, they know where they live geographically, and they know what kind of movies they like and their suggestions. Based on all the matrix that some people refer to as big data, the platform can determine what to serve their audience. "

This year's festival will include a mix of art house dramas, big-budget movies, as well as rarely seen classics.

A series of seminars are also scheduled.