1 – Drop the extradition bill
2 – Stop calling the protests riots
3 – Amnesty for those arrested
4 – An independent inquiry into police violence
5 – Full Democracy
Above is a list of political demands that every Hong Konger chants as they protest and take a stand to fight for a freer Hong Kong
A year in the life of four young protestors Yan, Shing Long, AJ and his girlfriend Jennie from 2019 we are taken on a very personal journey as they go from the front line while trying to balance their everyday life. Yan is a law student; Shing Long is a father with another child on the way, student AJ keeps his relationship with Jennie healthy while he is drawn to the front line. We follow all four during this troubled time, it cuts between their everyday life`s while they continue to be drawn to the front line in the protests, where they are met with police fury and tear gas. As the viewer we are given a street view of all this, these scenes are relentless and truly are like watching a City on Fire.
From executive producer Mark Thomas who brought us The Oil Machine already this year (we screened this at Eden Court Theatre & Cinema for the 20th Inverness Film Festival) comes another hard-hitting documentary. Hong Kong: City on Fire is a pulse pounding slice of real life told from the streets of Hong Kong. Directed by Lee Hiu-Ling and Choi Xa-yan this is a cinematic experience of events unfolding from peaceful protests of 2019 to the change that occurred after police violence of June the same year, from then after to 2020 the protestors called it the front line. We follow our four young extraordinary people as they negotiate their city and their relationships, as they take part in the protests, all they want is for their government to listen to them, to hear the five demands. During the course of the year, we`ll see a dramatic change in them and the city.
I'`ve never watched an unrelenting documentary like this; it really does demand to be seen. It is the kind of film that Take One Action would screen. Hong Kong: City on Fire is bound to have people discussing it for years to come. I`m not going too much into the politics of it, the documentary speaks for itself. So well-made it is, there are times that you will forget that it is a documentary, you are watching!
A wee side note before I sign off. For those that don`t know. I am a projectionist @ Eden Court Theatre and Cinema. Each year we take part in a number of touring film festivals, take One Action is one such Festival. As well as our own Inverness Film Festival, this year we celebrated two decades of IFF. Here`s hoping that there will be many more to come.
Hong Kong: City on Fire is in cinemas on 22 November
