敬！香港／CHINA獨立紀錄片

In 2009, the director enjoyed an unforgettable self-driving tour in northwest Guangdong, China. He revisited the same sites with his college roommate in 2016, meditating on the ideas of people, places, and serendipity. Narrated in colloquial Cantonese, this personal road film operates on a topography of memories, reconstructing and retelling the travellers' youth as well as the hidden histories of the Pearl River Delta region.

A storm was brewing in the early hours of 1 July 2019—the 22nd anniversary of the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong. Facing the absurdity of the Hong Kong Government's indoor flag-raising ceremony, protesters questioned the effectiveness of peaceful protest. They stormed the Legislative Council Complex as a last-ditch effort to ignite change in the Anti-ELAB Movement. Violent street clashes with the police continued deep into the night.

This is the eighth film in the documentary series, 47 KM. An 85-year-old man sits under MAO Zedong's portrait, recalling his revolutionary history in pursuit of the ‘New China’. A 15-year-old girl named FANG Hong wanders through the village with her paintbrush, knocking on the elders’ doors to paint their portraits. My camera follows FANG Hong; together we has built a window for the ‘47-km village’.

West Estate spotlights the severe housing problems in Hong Kong, taking the spirit of resistance outside of the protest. The damaged walls in the cage-like tenements reflect the many forms of social injustice as well as Hongkongers’ widespread sense of rootlessness. Connecting three stories from different households like puzzle pieces, the film depicts people’s despair over issues of family, sexuality, love, and freedom.

The Anti-ELAB Movement came to a horrifying peak in mid-November at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. When protesters blocking the Cross-Harbour Tunnel retreated to the University, the police surrounded the area and put the school in a lockdown. Anxious citizens made various rescue attempts, but could barely go near the campus. Meanwhile, within those red brick walls, the camera captured the trapped protesters’ desperation and determination.