20 January 2018

We The Workers

A screening of We The Workers (凶年之畔, 2017) was organized on January 20, with the film's director, Wen Hai, joining afterwards for a discussion. This documentary discloses the everyday living conditions of laborers in southern China, the fight of migrant labor activists to secure wages and improve working conditions, as well as the negotiations with and threats from local officials and factory owners. During the Q&A, Wen Hai expressed his concern for the workers and his hopes for a better protection of labor in China, which he believes would benefit the country's future development. Around 40 people—including CCS students and members of the general public—attended and raised questions regarding the prospects of the labor movement in China.

'Hong Kong Nostalgia' Screening Series

26 February 2018

Liu Yichang: 1918

On February 26, the documentary Liu Yichang: 1918 (1918: 劉以鬯, 2015) was screened. The film centers on Liu Yichang's literary career since the 1930s and his life in mainland China, Singapore and Hong Kong, where he worked as a prolific writer and editor. After the screening, the audience had a chance to talk with the film's producer, Prof. Mary Shuk Han Wong, and its cinematographer, Yuen Chi Him. Prof. Wong explained that she helped to produce this entry in the Taiwanese Inspired Island series (which focuses on important Chinese-language authors) hoping to promote Hong Kong literature by recording important literary figures on film. She stressed how the medium of film and the form of docudrama are a more lively and approachable way to reach the public.

26 March 2018

Boundary: Leung Ping-kwan

Another film in the Inspired Island documentary series was screened on March 26. Boundary: Leung Ping-kwan (東西, 2015) focuses on the poet and scholar Leung Ping Kwan (梁秉鈞), a.k.a. Yesi (也斯), one of the most important figures in modern Hong Kong literature. The film's director Ben Wong made this documentary between 2009-2013, which was right before Yesi's death, revisiting his life and work from the 1950s to the 21st century. Prof. Mary Shuk Han Wong and Yuen Chi Him, who both also were involved in the making of this film, rejoined us for a post-screening discussion. Prof. Wong was Yesi's colleague at Lingnan University and knew him well: her assistance was crucial in the making of this film, which features interviews with many prominent cultural figures in Hong Kong who worked with Yesi on a wide variety of artistic projects. Mr. Yuen talked about the fictional interludes that are part of the film, in which he, as the cinematographer, had a more important creative role to play.

10 April 2018

The Posterist

The term's screening series concluded on April 10 with The Posterist (海報師：阮大勇的插畫藝術, 2016), a documentary on Hong Kong poster artist Yuen Tai-yung. Filmed by Hui See-wai, The Posterist chronicles the director's quest to find the reclusive master who painted over 200 iconic Hong Kong film posters and his subsequent encounters with the man. Mr. Hui came to discuss his production after the screening, answering a wide variety of questions from the audience. He expressed that in this film, which is his first, he aimed to laud Mr. Yuen's contribution to Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s and 1990s. As the son of famed local comedian Michael Hui (Hui Koon Man 許冠文), he also wanted to thank Mr. Yuen for his role in the success of his father, for whom Mr. Yuen made his first iconic posters. Mr. Hui also also revealed that he is now starting work on his fiction film debut.