Revolution of Our Times
Hong Kong / 2021 / 152 min
Director：Kiwi CHOW
In 2019, the “Extradition Bill” turned Hong Kong into a battlefield against the Chinese authoritarian rule. This documentary depicts the resistance movement of the Hong Kong citizens both with a view of its historical background and focuses on the young protesters in the front line. The director is Kiwi CHOW, who also directed “Self Immolator”, one part of the film in award-winning anthology “Ten Years”, but other names of the crew have not been disclosed for safety reasons. The resistance movement after 2019 was labelled with the characteristics and guidelines of “decentralized leadership”, “be water” (flexible tactics) and “blossoming everywhere” (protest all over the territory). The film follows several activist groups and individuals, and tries to capture a big picture of this whole diverse movement.
Screening Schedule: Nov 7th, 12:40-
Tickets are available from here (Japanese Only)
*If you need any help in English, please contact to ticket@filmex.jp
Kiwi CHOW graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts with a Bachelor and a Master of Fine Arts. His first feature film, “A Complicated Story” (2013), was selected for the 37th Hong Kong International Film Festival and won the Award for Young Artist (Film) at Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2014. Kiwi went on to direct the ‘Self-immolator’ section of the multi award winning and highly controversial film ‘Ten Years’. ‘Ten Years’ won Best Film in the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards and was viciously criticized by the Chinese state media. ‘Ten Years’ became a cult classic in Hong Kong and is now available on Netflix. Kiwi Chow’s newest feature film “Beyond the Dream” received stellar box office results in Hong Kong during its release in the Summer of 2020. It also won the Best Adapted Screenplay Award (57th Taipei Golden Horse Film Awards) and received six nominations in the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards.
Within the narrative of the big event, this documentary also weaves in short stories of the protesters. There is no leader in this movement, which is rare in the global history of resistance. Everyone is of great significance to this movement. Every single participant is a brave soul. Masked demonstrators on the front line are allowed to speak their mind through the medium of a documentary. The audience is unable to see their faces, but they can enter their hearts and allow the protestors to present their brave, yet fragile souls.
In 2019, the Hong Kong people rebelled against the proposed extradition bill to amend the ‘Fugitive Offenders Ordinance’. And in 2020, the regime replaced it with the more dire ‘National Security Law’. Living under fear, the interviewees had to wear face masks, the production staff had to remain anonymous, and we will have to live with the fact that this documentary cannot be screened publicly in Hong Kong due to heavy monitoring by the government.
We have lost contact with some of the interviewees in the film, some went into exile, and some are serving sentences in prison. The people of Hong Kong have indeed given up a lot during this tumultuous period. And as a film director, it is my responsibility to take the risks and document the resistance.
It was not the times that chose us, but we chose to change the times.
