Movie Review – Short Doc Program 1

There are many concern groups in Hong Kong such as shumai concern groups. All concern groups are about the information of living better lives. Surprisingly, these films from young talent training scheme mainly concern about disadvantaged people that not the majority of people will notice. Three short documentaries will be introduced as below.

1. 32+4 (2015) 

The director Chan Hau Chun made a short film lasting 32 minutes called 32+4(2015). Thirty-two and four refer to the floor's number. This documentary records her family history. She was born into an underprivileged and complicated family background. Her mother married another man so she has two fathers. Two fathers coincidentally live in the same housing estate. One lives on the thirty-two floor. One lives on four floors. 32+4 represents the two families she is related to.

The director rediscovers where she comes from and reexamines herself after making this film. It takes courage for her to expose her family and unravel the traumas she got from the original family without reservation through her filming lens. She lives on her own which is a small renting room paid by the salary she earned from her part-time job. When she lives alone, the alone time will accelerate her to think about the relationship between her original family and her. Can she and her parents separate forever even if she leaves home and live alone? It is a sensational time to examine her relationship with the family members. How is she going to live after living alone and independently? She is like an ordinary bachelor student using a laptop and camera to record her life. She makes good use of her camera and she is like using her camera as a weapon to complain.

She wears a hoodie covering her head to start to investigate her family’s history. She takes photos of her mother and father and records the conversation between her parents and her. During the interview, it is hard for her parents to build a meaningful conversation with her. Her parents only want to live better. There is a communication gap between parents and children. A father represents the head of the family and pillar of the economy. Her stepfather said her mother did not need her daughter’s money to maintain her life. Why did her parents can not build a complete family? Her father cannot answer it. She also tries to figure out the background of the stepfather. However, he was not involved much in the film. In addition, she is not the only child. She only invites her mother and father to film.

The most shocking scene is when the director rebuilds the violent past by showing the mark on the door and the sound of chopping the meat. She faces her past directly and lets her parents rewind their past.

She takes grainy black-and-white images of her mother and father. Some of the images show her mother’s emaciated body. Some of the images show the time-worn appearance of her father. Her case is like the families of many other teenagers.

It was her graduation project to record her growing history. It makes the audience reflect on their family relationship.

This film won the Principal Prize in the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen in Germany in 2015, the Gold Award (Open Category) in the 20th Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Awards (ifva) organized by the Hong Kong Arts Centre in 2015, the Hong Kong Documentary Award in the Chinese Documentary Festival 2014.

2. Call Me Mrs Chan(2017)

Call Me Mrs Chan is co-directed by Chan Hau Chun and Chui Chi Yin. There are many Mrs Chan in the Chinese community. Who is Mrs Chan? You may think she is Mrs nobody as she works as a garbage collector.

In 2000, a rare industrial accident occurred in Tai Yuen Estate, Tai Po. While cleaning the garbage chute of the building, a cleaning worker accidentally fell from the chute on the 19th floor along the pipe into a giant trash can underground. No workers noticed that the seriously injured cleaner then transported the garbage to the Sha Tin Refuse Transfer Station and then transferred it to the Ta Kwu Ling landfill for disposal. Police discovered his body in the landfill until the next day.

Are work rights taken seriously? It seems that not many people in society pay attention to the news. No one really cares about the workers who work the lowest level of work.

Mrs Chan also has a husband. Her husband also tries to take care of her by installing the wheels under the bamboo basket to reduce her labor energy. Her husband cannot support her financially and asks her to leave this kind of job. She still has to do this dirty and repetitive job. In this society, someone has to do this job. If you do not do this, others will take over this job. In ancient concepts, females marrying rich males means they would have a good life or females use marriage as a means to gain a better living condition. Females rely on their husbands. To a certain extent, females like to be spoiled and males like to show their capability and wealth. Females may not work in a workplace after being in a marriage. 

The realistic scenes are filmed. Why would people watch this unattractive visual? We cannot smell that smelly scent through the film. The dirty job makes Mrs Chan feel dirty. They are also aware of the differences between others. Who would give her cleaning products and appreciate her labor work? She would not take holidays and work for the whole year. She said she would stay the same after ten years. Even if she may not be able to change her job. At least she is self-reliant. At least she is not reliant on comprehensive social security assistance. There are a large amount of labor groups in Hong Kong. Labourers may not know the support groups for labour workers such as The Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions and Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions. They also have their right in this society. Even if they have their right, they may not know how to defend one's rights. The only way to change the destiny of the grassroots is to equip themselves. For females, marriage is not the only way to change their destiny.

This film gained a Special mention in ifva open category in 2018. It showcased in different film festivals such as Chinese Documentary Festival 2017, Sydney Indie Film Festival 2018 and Asians on Film Festival of Shorts 2018.

3. Via Dolorosa(2014)

Via Dolorosa is directed by Jo Cheng. Via Dolorosa is a Latin word which means sorrowful way. Via Dolorosa is a street in the Old City of Jerusalem which is traditionally held to be the path Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion. This documentary is about the lives of homeless Vietnamese refugees. She films a middle-aged man, through his last days. He previously slept on the street. The director faces the death of a refugee directly. 

Hong Kong is a city where the gap between rich and poor is among the world's widest. The majority of Hong Kong people will not pay attention to the poor group. They only make fun of them instead of paying attention to the underprivileged people such as the incident of Mr and Mrs Ho who fights for property among family members. The director paints him to memorize him. She is paying attention to him and he will not be forgotten. His friends who are Vietnamese refugees also come to visit him in the hospital and after his death.

Between 1975 and 1997, almost 200,000 Vietnamese sought refuge in Hong Kong. Vietnamese had been welcome as refugees and asylum seekers simply because they fled communism, when unauthorized Chinese border crossers were promptly returned to China. The last generation of many Hong Kong people are from the Mainland. They come to Hong Kong as most of them are looking for better living conditions and earning more money. Vietnamese refugees and people from the mainland are both immigrants.

The refugees leave home from Vietnam to Hong Kong. Most of the refugees have organized a family in Vietnam already. They have a sense of nostalgia for being away from home. They want better living conditions but they can only do labour work. Why would they sleep in the street? It is supposed they can reach the basic living conditions. There are lots of Vietnam restaurants in Hong Kong. It is supposed Hong Kong people welcome Vietnamese. The refugees are sad to earn little money. At the same time, they miss home. It leads them to take drugs to find consolation. Their mental strength is very weak. They are human but their rights in Hong Kong may not be a first priority to be considered. Hollow citizens in this society may have no difference from the refugees. They cannot find their home in the city. It is the sense of belonging which is not a physical home.

The priest visits the very poor labor worker. After his death, his account only left a few cents. Why would the director spend that much time with a stranger? The director said she would like to finish this project in the film. The film shows the different sides of the society. Marginalised and underprivileged people you may not notice but they do exist in the same society we are living together. Whatever, after watching this film, indifferent urban citizens can be less indifferent.

Via Dolorosa (2014) received Special Mention in the Chinese Documentary Festival, and was showcased in the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Market.

In addition, the fiction film Drifting (2021) also explores the lives of underprivileged people.

The films above are mostly constituted by interviews and filming the objects. The interviewees all are aware of the existence of the camera. Would the camera hurt the subjects and alter the objective fact? The directors were not concerned about this when filming. Does Jo gain the agreement to film the patient? The scenes of the patient lying down in the sickbed with respiratory equipment are very close and realistic which does not show the face of the patient. It makes me think of the dignity of the patient. 

To conclude, in this isolated society, people say hello to people in Hong Kong. This kind of film cultivates citizens' empathy as the commonality between people. People will argue. People will pass away. It increases the awareness of different groups of people and gives the people a voice. Indifferent urban citizens can be less indifferent. People may not want compassion. They want understanding.

Bibliography:

https://international.thenewslens.com/article/136112