多謝《給十九歲的我》的參與者。 #終身學習 Thanks Participants of “To My 19 Year Old Self” #LifelongLearning

Thanks Participants of “To My 19 Year Old Self” #LifelongLearning
多謝《給十九歲的我》的參與者。 #終身學習

Related: “Kempton & 張婉婷 給十九歲的我 (National Treasure) To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self – Mabel Cheung 2.5 hrs chat”

Related: “回應張堅庭導演 #給十九歲的我”

0) Thanking ALL participants and not just the leads (“主角”)
1) Dear Shirley (best friend of 「阿佘」Britney),
2)「阿佘」Britney and family
** 2a) Dear Britney’s Mom,
** 2b) Dear 「阿佘」Britney,
3)「阿聆」Ling and family
** 3a) Dear「阿聆」Ling,
** 3b) Dear Ling’s Parents,
** 3c) Dear Ling’s brother Mr. Wong Lik Tin 王力天,
4)「阿雀」“Birdy” Chloe and family
** 4a) Dear Chloe’s Parents,
** 4b) Dear 「阿雀」 Chloe,
5) Dear「香港小姐」“Miss HK” Katie
6) In Closing

0) Thanking ALL participants and not just the leads (“主角”)

Many have thanked the “lead participants” (“主角”) of the Hong Kong award-winning documentary 《給十九歲的我》“To My 19 year old self”. My thanks go to all appearing in front of camera and behind the scenes, you have taken precious time in these 10 years to shine light on the most precious thing in life, which is life itself.

After taking some time to reflect after watching 給十九 ToMy19 for 6+ times, I’ve found many “Teachable Moments“. I will try to share a few scenes in the film and people that I was deeply touched by. Each of us of course will have moments that touched us more than others because of our own live experiences. And I think that is expected. Here are some of mine.

I will put my thanks in the form of letters addressed to some of the people I watched in 給十九 ToMy19 directly in no particular order. Due to space and time limitation, I’m only able to share small parts of what I want to say so my apologies in advance.

1) Dear Shirley (best friend of 「阿佘」Britney),

Dear Shirley, I wish 給十九 ToMy19 is longer and we audiences of 給十九 ToMy19 get to see more of you on screen in your own words, telling your own stories, including more of you talking about your passion in music. Were you studying conducting in that scene near the end? One thing we got to watch clearly is that you were such a good and loyal friend of 「阿佘」Britney (more on Britney later) in her times of greatest need. Your firm and unwavering support of Britney showed us hope and possibility for goodness in a “Mean Girls” movie-style school environment. Shirley, Have you heard of the “Anne Frank Test“? No? Before I explain it, I want to say you passed the “Anne Frank Test” with flying colours! The Anne Frank Test as told by a Holocaust survivor years ago, is actually a single question: Which non-Jewish friends would risk their lives to hide us should the Nazis ever return? To me, you passed the “Anne Frank Test” when 「阿佘」Britney became an outcast for those periods of time in school and you stood by her all those years when she most needed your support. So much so that years later, Britney remembered your kindness and told others including the Former Principal Ms. Ruth Lee (前任校長 李石玉如) who recognized the good job that you did for your classmate in need. I often quote the Chinese saying, “錦上添花易, 雪中送炭難” and it is rather true for you. These days, I see too many HongKongers who are willing to 落井下石 because they have been primed to quick “Like” and even quicker “Hate” thanks to Social Media (like Facebook) algorithms that have been designed to maximize engagement (another word for “angry”/”hate”/”dislike”).

Thanks Shirley for giving us viewers (young, old, and very old) opportunities to learn to behave like you did for your good friend Britney. In case you and others are interested, I first read about test/concept in The Atlantic, “John McCain Would Have Passed the Anne Frank Test” after the passing of Senator McCain.

2) 「阿佘」Britney and family

2a) Dear Britney’s Mom,

Watching you showing your love of Britney by scheduling and limiting her activities (including limiting her TV time) reminded me very much of the love my own parents showed us when we were little. My parents were busy working like you and Britney’s father and they did not want us children to watch too much TV either “for our own good”. And in the summer holiday, my mom would plan my schedule a little so I would take time to study. You were like my parents, you tried and that was kinda “Universal Truth” of how some parents show love!

2b) My Dear 「阿佘」Britney,

Dear Britney, I wish 給十九 ToMy19 is longer and has more time to explore (even briefly) your current work in nursing. I worry the nursing profession in HK has also been decimated by the Covid19 pandemic like in Canada (shortage of nurses) and US (more shortage). How are things in nursing? Now back to the documentary. Thank you so much for sharing your stages of growth with HongKongers of all ages including students’ parents. So some (not all, but some) of those parents may learn to better love & spend quality and quantity time with their HongKongers students/children. I think every little bit makes a positive difference.

Speaking about parents who didn’t want us children watching too much TV “for our own good”, may I share something with you? Well, when my dear parents weren’t home to stop us from glued to the TV, at one point, they would unplug the TV, tied the TV’s electric cord into a knot, then my dad would tape the whole electronic cord knot onto the side of the TV and signed his name onto the tape itself, yes, as a tamper-proof security feature! Very inventive father! That invention stopped us from watching TV for a few days until I bought an electric extension cord to power the TV! 💞🤔😃💞 Of course, 道高一尺, 魔高一丈, soon they would start to “feel” the back of the TV, and if the TV was hot, it meant we were watching TV “illegally”! And then I discovered water would cool TV down so I just poured cups of water right into the back of TV minutes before they arrived home. Thank goodness TVs weren’t made in China and were more reliable then, and us children did not die from TV explosion from all the water poured into the back of high voltage cathode-ray tube TVs! Kidding aside, we can see in the documentary, your parents worked hard to provide for you. And your parents didn’t get their “training manuals on parenting” as neither did my parents get theirs.

Britney you are so brave in sharing your mental health condition (Depression) and Serotonin medication that may help many HongKongers’ (young and old) in discussing and treating their mental health condition, something that you now know as important given your nursing profession. Mental health condition is something many HongKongers including HongKongers students may have but aren’t brave enough to face or share like you. Britney, you have my deep admiration and I cried (ok, I cry easy) in support of your bravery! In Canada, we are a bit more enlightened as we have the awesome Clara Hughes, a beloved Canadian cyclist and speed skater who has won multiple Olympic medals in both sports. Britney, Our dear Clara wasn’t as brave as you because Clara could only share her mental health condition (Deep Depression) in 2011 after she was a full grown adult and a highly decorated successful Olympian winning multiple medals! Britney, you opened up when you were in secondary school and some of your classmates weren’t your most supportive friends except your best friend Shirley which I think we can agree as super cool! Britney, would you agree that Shirley has passed the “Anne Frank Test” as I described above? By the way, have you studied from your nursing training, the concept of Neurodiversity, a term I much prefer? I recently learned about it from the CBC podcasts “Neurodiversity and the Myth of Normal” (part 1) and (part 2). With stories like yours more widely shared, do you think we can be hopeful that HongKongers will be more enlightened in the coming months and years?

3) 「阿聆」Ling and family

3a) Dear「阿聆」Ling,

Dear Ling, It was a breath of fresh air watching your open, fair, and hard fought school election that determined which of two teams would get to lead the Ying Wa Student Council. Documentary film doesn’t exist in a vacuum. And 給十九 ToMy19 exists in 2022/2023 when the Hong Kong 47 are being accused of breaking National Security Law of Hong Kong for their election related activities and some had been put in prison without bail for 700+ days. Under this context, watching your open, fair, and hard fought school election campaign and the insightful & emotional speech given by Vice Principal Ms. Siu-Fung Chow 周小鳳 became deeply touching & insightful as good documentaries can do sometimes. Maybe I cry too easily, but I cried watching you and your schoolmates’ school election campaign. I want you to know those election campaign scenes touched me.

And watching the clear love between you and your younger brother Mr. Wong Lik Tin 王力天 is an example of the “Universal Truth” that is the unconditional love that exist between siblings. Which led me to fondly remember some experiences with my own sibling. We love each other unconditionally. You and Mr. Wong also taught me more about the further need for inclusivity in Hong Kong which I will expand below.

3b) Dear Ling’s Parents,

Dear Ling’s Mother, You showed and taught me about unconditional motherly love in every frame you appear in the movie. I’m not a smart man but I think and hope your on screen actions has inspired and give solace to other HongKonger mothers who have their own life experiences to live.

Dear Ling’s Father, We got to watch you in a few places in the documentary and I appreciate your special fatherly love. As us children (we are ALL children of our parents, so this includes you, Mr. Ling’s Father) get older, we learn that parents are not given “training manuals” of how to be good parents and sometimes even our own parents make mistakes and that is another “Universal Truth” I myself discovered when I got older. My own parents tried their best. And so did you. The difference is that, I now understand that fact of “parents make mistakes too” better, the change of understanding happened inside me.

3c) Dear Ling’s brother Mr. Wong Lik Tin 王力天,

Dear Mr. Wong Lik Tin 王力天, Thank you for sharing precious moments of your life with us. Thanks especially to you, I have taken the initiative (a few hours) to learn more about Neurodiversity. In the film, your mental health condition is described as autistic (自閉症), of which I’m now more comfortable in using the term Neurodiverse to describe after listening to the CBC podcasts “Neurodiversity and the Myth of Normal” (part 1) and (part 2). And I’ve put a library hold on the book “Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity” (see also audio NPR segment). I know some HongKongers are more progressive than others, and as we learn more about ideas like Neurodiversity so we can, ultimately, bring out fuller potential of Neurodiverse HongKongers to contribute to communities in unique ways as Prof. Temple Grandin (who is neurodiverse herself) talked about in details in the CBC podcasts “Neurodiversity and the Myth of Normal” (part 1) and (part 2) that I hope readers of this post will take time to listen. To quote Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” I will tell people reading this to not take my words blindly for it, have a listen to “Neurodiversity and the Myth of Normal” (part 1) and (part 2) and decide for yourself.

4) 「阿雀」“Birdy” Chloe and family

4a) Dear Chloe’s Parents,

You both show your clear unconditional love of Chloe. And in the documentary, Chloe even explained she is not going to leave Hong Kong so she can take care of you both. So sweet.

Dear Chloe’s Dad, You got up everyday to give Chloe rides to school (until the school moved to the Sham Shui Po) reminded me of how my loving late dad took care of us by driving us around to where we needed to go. The pair of scenes that touched me deeply were the ones you held Chloe’s hands when she was little. And then on that rainy day when Chloe was older, she pushed your wet hand away. This is another moment that I call “Universal Truth” as we children all do “this” at some stage of us growing up. Inevitable. Part of “growing up”. This scene made me cried a little as my own 80+ years old dad passed away last year. I wish I had more years to hold my dad’s hands but Covid19 and Hong Kong’s isolation policy robbed us of the final years, final months, final days, and final hours as I watched him over video as he passed on.

4b) Dear「阿雀」Chloe,

Dear Chloe, Watching 給十九 ToMy19, I feel (rightly or wrongly?) you are easy going and yet very principled. Your scenes bought lot of joy and insight to me personally. After watching your wonderful role in “The Nightingale”, I even Google to find and sample longer segments of “The Nightingale” Part 1/2 and Part 2/2 to watch for fun! And watching the scene of you, “Madam”  Karen, Ying Wa’s First Police Inspector Ms. Sheila Tong (湯玉英, 英華首位警務女督察), and others discussing the then “Live” Hong Kong protests (“佔中” in the words of Karen) also show your independent minded personality which I admire deeply. I’m almost certain that when I was your age, I would not have the clarity of mind and wouldn’t be able to explain my reasons as clearly as you to a person as experienced in policing as Sheila.

5) Dear「香港小姐」“Miss HK” Katie

Dear Katie, It was heartbreaking watching many scenes of you growing up alone in Hong Kong as it also shines light on real life experiences that more and more families of blended families and parents not living with the children. Of course, it was heartwarming to see you adapted to your American life really well.

6) In Closing, I wish I have more time and words to write about more people in 給十九 ToMy19 that touched my heart and taught me insightful lessons. I think the nice thing about good documentaries is not unlike other things in life, we ultimately decide what we see as “Teachable Moments” to learn from. Good luck and I hope you find your own valuable “Teachable Moments” in life.

Kempton & 張婉婷 給十九歲的我 (National Treasure) To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self – Mabel Cheung 2.5 hrs chat

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Related: “多謝《給十九歲的我》的參與者。 #終身學習 Thanks Participants of “To My 19 Year Old Self” #LifelongLearning”

Related: “回應張堅庭導演 #給十九歲的我”

====

• 10 years in the making, 300,000 hours of footage, and 3 years editing
• Calling 給十九歲的我 To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self a “National Treasure“
• What good can documentaries do? Can you imagine documentaries changing lives or society?
• Director Mabel’s “Final Cut” & Ying Wa’s “Final Decision”
• re Mabel and her filmmaking & loving life partner the late Alex Law 羅啟銳
• Has Mabel thought of donating Alex’s and her creative archives to her alma mater HKU or NYU like Canadian author & living national treasure Margaret Atwood had donated 600+ boxes to create the Atwood archives at U of T?
• Sending my thanks & love to Mabel & team, student interviewees, and Ying Wa Girls’ School 英華女校 staff
• Concluding thoughts
• Postscripts 後記

10 years in the making, 300,000 hours of footage, and 3 years editing

It was my great honour and pleasure to have an extensive ~2.5 hours four parts insightful video interview (watch here) with Ms. Mabel Cheung 張婉婷導演 , an award winning director from the start of her career including her first student film (the famous “Migration trilogy“: The Illegal Immigrant 非法移民 (1985), An Autumn’s Tale 秋天的童話 (1987) and Eight Taels of Gold 八兩金 (1989)). My previous “record” of longest film interview was ~2 hours with Taiwan director Mr. Shen Ko-shang 沈可尚 to talk about his documentary LOVE Talk 幸福定格 which he took 7 years to film 8 couples.

Mabel and I chatted last Sunday Hong Kong time (2023/01/15) to talk about her documentary (10 years in the making, 300,000 hours of footage, and 3 years in the editing room) 給十九歲的我 To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self (in short 給十九 ToMy19). And then the film won 2022 Best Film from Hong Kong Film Critics Society 香港電影評論學會 one day later on Monday (2023/01/16). Perfectly timed for Mabel‘s words of thanks to be appended to Part 4/4 of the interview clips.

My extensive ~2.5 hours chat with Mabel covers many topics, including scenes I love in 給十九 ToMy19 from the perspectives of movie viewers and also things that documentary filmmakers like myself or aspiring filmmakers want to know. Some viewers and filmmakers maybe curious how Mabel worked with 300,000 hours of footage to create a film that is loved by many? Or when the student interviewees didn’t want to be interviewed anymore, what did Mabel & team do to keep things going? What kind of advices does Mabel have for documentary or drama filmmakers or aspiring filmmakers wanting to create their first film?

Have a watch of all four parts of the interview. Mabel & I were originally scheduled to chat for 2 hours and those time flew by in the blink of an eye. And Mabel was so kind in giving me a 30 minutes extension. I used my additional time to ask questions I previously collected from a photographer friend interested in filmmaking and three questions by Norris Wong 黃綺琳 (note: Norris 黃綺琳 is Mabel’s former university student and current filmmaking project mentee 香港電影發展基金「薪火相傳計劃 ((2022?)-(3) 張婉婷 / 黃鐦 黃綺琳)」).

Calling 給19歲的我 To My 19-Year-Old Self a “National Treasure“

Right from the start, I mentioned to Mabel that I’ve watched 給十九 ToMy19 6+ times and I love it. In the same way that many Brits now love the Up (film series) (a series of docs featuring group of ~14 people in UK when they were 7, 14, 21, 28, … all the way to 63 years old) and consider Up (film series) a National Treasure, I love 給十九 ToMy19 a ton and also consider it a National Treasure.

Love is hard to explain. In some sense I started falling in love with longitudinal documentaries in 1988 as I was lucky to discover and watched the first four Up (documentary series) when the subjects/interviewees were 7, 14, 21, and 28 years old, at the SigSam audio-visual library of my alma mater University of Toronto. To my knowledge, the Up (film series) produced by Granada Television for ITV is the oldest, most famous, and most successful longitudinal documentaries of all time. Hoop Dreams (1994) is another longitudinal doc I love. There is also longitudinal dramas like director Richard Linklater‘s Boyhood (2014) (same actors filmed from 2002 to 2013) and the Before trilogy (Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013)) of romance films featuring the same leads.

And now you see why I’m primed to LOVE Mabel’s 給十九 ToMy19 which has become my latest favourite. Yes, a National Treasure. If I were a betting man, the 2022 Best Film mentioned above may just be the first of many awards. Of course, “winning awards” should never be any good filmmaker’s goal and definitely wasn’t Mabel’s as she told me. But a good film about HongKongers should be watched by more HongKongers.

What good can documentaries do? Can you imagine documentaries changing lives or society?

Many documentarians (good and even bad ones) aspire to capture their times for history. You may ask what good can documentaries do? Is it even possible that documentaries can change lives or society? Let me share two examples to illustrate.

Oscar winning director Errol Morris‘s documentary The Thin Blue Line (1988) was instrumental in Randall Dale Adams‘ (wrongly convicted of murder) exoneration the following year. Dear Zachary (2008) is a documentary that is instrumental in changing the legal system (specifically, bail reform) in Canada which I had the heartbreaking honour to video interview David & Kate Bagby when they attended the 2008 Calgary International Film Festival screening.

I hope a good documentary like 給十九 ToMy19 can lead to self and collective reflections, follow by positive changes in minds and actions of Hong Kong students, parents, teachers, school admins, education system, and even Hong Kong society in general. I wonder can and should 給十九 ToMy19 be screened at Ying Wa for all incoming new students in future years? Or will other Hong Kong schools want/plan to screen the film for teachable moments and learning purpose? I think the film contains many universal truths and can be used as good teaching aids in the hands of wise and loving teachers, vice-principals and principals. I think. I hope.

One scene that breaks my heart into a million pieces is the one that Vice-Principal Siu-Fung 小鳳 talked about some school where students (and their parents?) were thrilled to burn their school books after public exams were over. How tragic? Joi Ito (伊藤 穰一), former director of the MIT Media Lab, said this in a cool TED talk which I love, “Learning over Education. To me, Education is what people do to you. And Learning is what you do to yourself.”

For the books burning students, their cheering teachers & parents, I wonder what were they thinking? Do they think all their learning were “finally over” once they got accepted into university or graduated and got their undergrad degrees? Have they ever heard of or aspire to the idea/ideal of “Lifelong Learning“?

I want to especially thank the student interviewees and their families for their open sharing of a wide range of topics, including public health topics like mental health, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and many other topics that we can all learn more about and become better members of our communities. Be kind, be caring, and be loving of others.

Director Mabel’s “Final Cut” & Ying Wa’s “Final Decision”

As Mabel told me in our chat, she has the Director’s Final Cut on the documentary so that means anything that is on screen (or not on screen), the length, etc were all her decisions to make and her decisions were final. And “luckily”, the Hong Kong film censor did not have to cut one frame off her film.

And if my memory serves me, Mabel in one of her many interviews with media directly said (or implied) that it is always Ying Wa‘s “Final Decision”, in it I took it to mean that Ying Wa could have nixed the whole documentary after Mabel had done all the hard work. But Ying Wa did not. And for that, I thank the higher-ups at Ying Wa for letting 給十九 ToMy19 have her own life with us HongKongers and viewers around the world.

re Mabel and her filmmaking & loving life partner the late Alex Law 羅啟銳

My heart was broken into million pieces as I watched hours & hours of YouTube videos of insightful interviews of Mabel and her filmmaking & loving life partner the late Alex Law 羅啟銳. (see links below) The sudden passing of Alex last year came as a shock for Mabel and HongKongers and deeply saddened us all. Many in the film industry and media lovingly call the duo “雌雄大導” (for directors) drawing parallel to the saying “雌雄大盜”. To me, Mabel & Alex were 形影不離, the duo were actualization of the word inseparable for their creative & personal lives (see this 美紙 Art & Piece 2022 Nov cover (FB link)).

Some day I would love to ask Mabel about her & Alex’s creative process. Hopefully Mabel will let me interview her again in the future. Will see.

Recommended YouTube videos: a) 書展2013：移民3部曲 – 羅啟銳、張婉婷 (2013, 76 minutes), b) 影談系列——張婉婷 · 羅啟銳《秋天的童話》映後談Movie Talk—Mabel and Alex “An Autumn’s Tale” Post-screening Talk (2022, 105 mins), c) 影談系列——張婉婷 · 羅啟銳《玻璃之城》映後談 Movie Talk—Mabel and Alex “City of Glass” Post-screening Talk (2022, 88 mins)

Has Mabel thought of donating Alex’s and her creative archives to her alma mater HKU or NYU like Canadian author & living national treasure Margaret Atwood had donated 600+ boxes to create the Atwood archives at U of T?

Knowing how precious Mabel’s and Alex’s creative archives can be of inspiring values to filmmakers of this and future generations, I asked if Mabel had thought of donating Alex’s and her creative archives to her alma mater HKU or NYU like Canadian author & living national treasure Margaret Atwood had donated 600+ boxes to create the Margaret Atwood Papers at U of T that anyone can access digitally and freely?

Mabel thought who (no one really?) would be interested in Alex’s and her creative papers? I promptly said I would and think many people would too! And I suggested the papers should be digitized for easy and free global access. (Yes, I’m selfish and thinking of making sure me in Canada can access easily.) Mabel wasn’t thrilled of the amount of work involved. Of which I said it would totally be the receiving institution’s job (in fact, a pre-condition) to make sure these precious papers and creative materials of Mabel’s and Alex’s are as easily, digitally, and freely accessible for research purpose as the Margaret Atwood Papers at U of T that people can access and have a look anytime, like now.

If and when Mabel has decided to donate more of their creative papers, I would love to chat with Mabel to talk more.

Sending my thanks & love to Mabel & team, student interviewees, and Ying Wa Girls’ School 英華女校 staff

I want to send my thanks & love to Mabel & team for their hard work in the last 10 years. Without their dedicated and persistent hard work, 給十九 ToMy19 would have been impossible to make. My special thanks to the so called “師奶兵團 (義務導演) C9 Army corps (Volunteer Directors)“!

And I want to send my thanks & love to all 30+ Form 1 student interviewees, all 13 student interviewees that appeared on the film credit list that, I understood, to have participated till the end. And in particular the 6+3 interviewees that we got to know a little in the film.

In order of featured appearances

「阿佘」Britney

「阿聆」Ling

馬燕茹  Jenny

“Madam”  Karen

「香港小姐」“Miss HK” Katie

「阿雀」“Birdy” Chloe

plus

“Ken” Myra

Shirley

Angel

And I also want to send my thanks & love to all of Ying Wa Girls’ School 英華女校 teachers, vice-principals, and former & current principal.

To all who appear in front of the cameras, I again thank you for making 給十九 ToMy19 possible.

Concluding thoughts

After watching 給十九 ToMy19, a National Treasure, that took 10 years to make, it is easy for us viewers to think we, all of a sudden, “know” all of the interviewees “deeply” because we watched them “grew up” in front of our eyes for 10 years, right? 10 years flew by in the blink of an eye. Some of us may think we know something or even a lot about them, right? I’m afraid that will be wrong. I think, all documentaries, no matter how good, can only capture some very small parts of people. In fact we only know very little about our beloved student interviewees as there have been a lot of growths and changes happening off cameras. Especially since the film finished shooting in 2019 which was over 3 years ago.

If I may use a “musical tangent” of a song example to illustrate growth and changes. Do you remember in the first few minutes of the film 「阿佘」Britney sang an excerpt of “Think of Me” from Phantom ? I love it. But Britney didn’t. Britney wasn’t too happy as she told Mabel, because she thought she kinda sang off-key (走音) for a few words and would rather see her singing cut. But I (we) love it, right?

Thing is life is all about growing & learning. We all mature in time. Our singing. Thinking. Now here comes my “musical tangent” from me doing “too much research”. This is a clip of the talented Emmy Rossum singing “Think of Me” in The Phantom of the Opera (2004). And in 2012, eight years later, Emmy on a late night comedy talk show singing “O Mio Babbino Caro” impromptu and it was, to me, 20x better than her 2004 movie singing because her voice has more practices and time to mature. I’m no expert in music. Maybe Britney can have a listen and tell me? Or better, maybe we all can have a “listen” to the “music” of growth, learning and maturity with our “ears” in our hearts.

Postscripts 後記:

P1.S.) 張堅庭 Alfred Cheung’s take ===> I read from Facebook that Mabel’s director good friend Alfred Cheung 張堅庭 watched 給十九 ToMy19 in Taiwan twice in three days. Alfred shared a story of an interesting encounter with a 2x viewer concluding with the comment “這就是「給19歲的我」的另一種吸引，有時紀錄片比劇情片更讓人刻骨銘心。近期的心水推薦。”.

P2.S.) 小鳳 Siu-Fung is #cool ===> Check out this interview of Vice-Principal Siu-Fung 小鳳 shared by the movie Facebook page, “我要用上帝的愛浸死他們——訪《給19歲的我》英華女校副校長“

P3.S.) Words about translation of National Treasure and pandas 熊貓 ===> I’ve decided to keep on using the English words National Treasure and not translate it to Chinese for this article. For my generation, it feels easier to say “love you” to my parents instead of saying the words “我愛你” which feels very 肉麻. To me, the words 國寶 should ONLY be used to describe pandas 熊貓 like the adorable Jia Yueyue (加悅悅 ‘Canadian Joy’) and Jia Panpan (加盼盼 ‘Canadian Hope’). So 給十九歲的我 To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self will always be a National Treasure to me. :)

P4.S.) 金成 + 張婉婷 ===> Of the many recent interview videos of Mabel I’ve watched, 金成 has done one of the most comprehensive and insightful interview and I highly recommend watching, 叔叔的愛（番外篇）：金成、張婉婷對談.

P5.S.) Unprofessional to call 給十九歲的我 “National Treasure”? ===> I can always count on my Better Half being frank with me and call my bull beep out. She warned me that by calling 給十九歲的我 To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self a National Treasure, I appear rather “unprofessional” and appear to “suck up” to Mabel and others. But did I? Did I NOT ask some tough questions during my extensive interview with Mabel? Did I NOT try to correct Mabel about some minor factual info (about the Up (film series)) when I could easily have said nothing? I felt important to ask questions in a respectful manner as Mabel is an accomplished filmmaker and yet, to do a good job, good (and sometimes tough) questions must be asked. While I was typing this, I kept thinking of Alex telling Mabel that her 1st and 2nd versions of 給十九歲的我 To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self was “boring” 好悶啊. Something only an honest and loving partner can and must keep on telling each other. I continue to mourn the passing of Alex, one half of a beautiful creative duo. To expand, “雌雄大導” focus on their creative work, while “形影不離” transcend work and become encompassing of work and life with love. Me think.

P6.S.) Ming Pao’s insightful interview with video ===> worth a read and watch, “花十年拍紀錄片變「老頑童」 張婉婷面對生活像快要崩潰的牆｜張婉婷專訪” [HT YWGS]

P7.S) 張婉婷想做飛機師 ==> I love this interview a ton, “(端傳媒) 導演張婉婷專訪：用十年紀錄香港千禧世代之後，她想做飛機師” [HT YWGS] I wish I had more time to chat with Mabel about her dream (or desire) to be a pilot (想做飛機師). You see, my US Wyoming based political talk show host friend Glenn is a private plane pilot and owns a small plane. With my previous CAATS – ATC (Canadian Automated Air Traffic Systems – Air Traffic Control) Software Engineering experience, we love to talk shop sometimes including topics like glass cockpit, Boeing 737 MAX tragic crashes & groundings, … and sometimes Glenn shares beautiful made-by-pilots cockpit YouTube videos like “Vancouver Island Series – Tofino, Long Beach – Can’t believe this is allowed! – Part 4 – (S3:E4)“. I would love to ask Mabel if she really wants to fly herself? Or would she be just as happy (like me) to watch beautiful clips like Vancouver Island Series – Tofino, Long Beach – Can’t believe this is allowed! and be amazed? Or Mabel really want to fly in the air?

P8) 說自己想說的話 ==> Check out am730 “張婉婷是香港的童話” as I love this line a lot, “然後，張婉婷輕輕笑一笑：「我們拍電影，不是為賺錢，是為說自己想說的話呀！」” [HT YWGS]

P9) 20230128 Ming Pao 明報OL, (with video) “《給十九歲的我》成績超乎預期 張婉婷盼成功為母校籌錢建泳池” 20230128 香港01, “優先場票房600萬　張婉婷面對負評︰不能客觀評價“

P10) 20230129 “文化誌，人物記 時日再變　樂天不變　《給19歲的我》阿雀：啲人笑我似林敏聰” (Youtube video) & “時代論壇 – 英華女校榮休石玉如校長專訪“

Update history: 20230128 6:28am Minor editorial changes + adding news links. 20230125 11:20pm Minor editorial changes + adding internet links. 20230121 12:25pm Created Internet archive saved page to properly and permanently link info to 香港電影發展基金「薪火相傳計劃 ((2022?)-(3) 張婉婷 / 黃鐦 黃綺琳 project. 5:52am Added P8 and reworded the beginning of each Postscript a little. 20230120 12:50pm Title change to match video clips and few other editorial changes. 11:22am MST Style and top picture position change. 5:18am MST – Add a pix up top which links to YouTube list of all 4 videos. Add P6.S., P7.S. and other minor updates. 20230119 10:25pm MST – Added P4S 金成 video interview recommendation. Added P5S My Better Half challenged me and asked: Did I “suck up” to Mabel and others by calling 給19 ToMy19 a National Treasure? P5S is a reply to her legitimate question. 20230119 9:47pm MST – Fixed typos and making minor changes

First published: 20230119 ~8pm MST

More Heartbreaking News From Hong Kong

20190812 Hong Kong anti-extradition protest at HKG airport – Pix 01 protesters and signs – Hong Kong Police took a nurse’s right eye [HT Pasu]

20190812 Hong Kong anti-extradition protest at HKG airport – Pix 01 protesters and signs [HT Pasu]

20190812 Hong Kong anti-extradition protest at HKG airport – Pix 03 [HT Pasu]

More Heartbreaking News From Hong Kong

Following added on 2019 Aug 12:

• Following news via HKFP. This particular pair of atrocities broke so many HongKongers’ hearts and triggered even more protests: “Hong Kong police shoot projectiles at close range in Tai Koo, as protester suffers ruptured eye in TST“
• “Video: Hong Kong police make bloody arrest, assisted by officers suspected to be undercover as protesters“
• “HKFP Lens: Hong Kong police step up crackdown against protesters – photos from the frontlines“
• “All flights cancelled out of Hong Kong as thousands of protesters besiege airport over police violence“
• Photos: 20190812 Hong Kong anti-extradition protest at HKG airport [HT Pasu]

4th Anniversary of Umbrella Revolution

On this 4th anniversary of Umbrella Revolution in HK, I will be frank as I had not planned to revisit/watch any Umbrella Revolution video footage including my own documentary because I had watched my documentary and the footage in it probably hundreds of time during edit. But 4 years later, while I of course remember and appreciate the major players’ roles and efforts, the unnamed strangers who helped out by sweeping water on the the street are what affected me and what I want to remember the most.

An unnamed strangers who helped out by sweeping water on the the street (timecode 49m34s)

I will always be in debt to the 100+ content creators who helped made my doc possible. So I rewatched the credit sequences to remember and say thanks.

The amazing credit sequence (timecode 1h47m6s) itself is also packed with photos and artworks by some content creators’ works at the time.

Long Hair Revolution Deleted & Extended Scenes – Support LH fight

Long Hair (Leung Kwok-hung 梁國雄) was forced into the biggest fight of his political life with the recent unjust retroactive court ruling that robbed his Legislative Council seat. As I was digitizing the 25 hours of miniDV tapes I filmed to make Long Hair Revolution, I decided to turn some clips into deleted and extended scenes and used them as calls for help for Long Hair. #Donate #LHRDeletedExtendedScenes I stole the following words from a friend, I hope she doesn’t mind.

//Long Hair needs money for the battle ahead. The HKSAR and CCP government will do everything possible to bankrupt him, jail him, and destroy his movement for democracy in Hong Kong. They are threatening to dun him for 9 months of back wages, and have saddled him with millions of dollars in court costs.
I’m reaching out to all of my friends, in and out of Hong Kong, to ask for your help. Please, please donate to keep his work and our dream alive. Here is an easy link. https://www.lsd.org.hk/donate/?lang=en

The donations are done with PayPal or credit card, and can be recurring or one-time-only. (For those of you unfamiliar with HK dollar amounts, 200 HKD is about 25 USD.)

Many many thanks! You are backing a noble man and a worthy cause. And if you’d like to know more about our Hong Kong situation, please reach out with questions and I’ll be happy to answer.//

Deleted & Extended scenes

Long Hair talks 2004 first elected to LegCo – LHR deleted scenes

粉筆少女 The infamous Chalk Girl

This is NOT my documentary but I really enjoyed the newly released Guardian documentary “The Infamous Chalk Girl” by San San F Young (web, @ssfyoung) (Producer, Camera, Director) so I want to share it here. Have a watch!

The Infamous Chalk Girl

P.S. My favourite scene is at the 20:45 mark and I left this comment: “This is a very touching scene to me. Chalk girl was asked what would she draw now?“

2017 Princeton Valedictory Address “Our Unsung Heroes” by Ms. Jin Yun Chow

Princeton 2017 Valedictorian Ms. Jin Yun Chow

Before I quote an excerpt and link to the wonderful speech, here is an amazing story of Princeton 2017 Valedictorian Ms. Jin Yun Chow from Hong Kong. [HT Daisann]

“In other words: Valedictorian Chow finds connection, purpose in language and life at Princeton”

//“One day we were discussing the Old Irish word for mead (a drink made from fermented honey), which is ‘mid,’” she said. A classmate who is Australian and speaks Cantonese pointed out that “mid” was related to the Tocharian word — spoken in very old northwestern China — for honey, “mit.” Chow noted that in Cantonese, which preserves the oldest pronunciations of Chinese, the usual transliteration of the word for honey is “mat.”

“That one word’s journey — from Proto-Indo-European to the geographically distant languages Old Irish and Tocharian and from there into northwestern China and then Cantonese, which is spoken in southeastern China — was just so cool,” Chow said. “It confirmed that there are moments in esoteric academic study that aren’t so ‘ivory-tower-esque.’ If you’re open-minded enough you can make all these connections with everything else in your life experience.”//

Here is a link to the video of Ms. Chow’s 2017 Commencement Valedictorian Speech “Our Unsung Heroes”. And here is a few excerpts from the prepared written text (not quite a transcript).

“I would like to start by telling you a story about the most memorable moment I had with one of my own unsung heroes: Margaret Campbell at the Firestone café. A few weeks ago, I was waiting in line for coffee when I saw that she was holding a Kindle ebook. […] [K’s note: I LOVE this story but I don’t want to copy the whole thing here.] I walked away that afternoon with a tingling feeling in my stomach. I marveled at how easy it would have been to have walked away after getting my coffee, not stopping to chat and never learning about her amazing literary endeavors. I wondered how many interesting people I didn’t get to befriend over my four years here because I never gave them a chance to talk and never gave myself the chance to listen. […]

So what I want to say to you today, my friends, is this: slow down. Slow down and take the time to recognize your unsung heroes. […] adulthood will urge us to run faster, climb higher, become more successful; it will entice us to swim upstream through the river that is life itself, and it will tempt us to devote every free minute to advancing ourselves and our ambitions. I challenge us to be the salmon that swims downstream, taking the time to get to know and appreciate the people who surround us as we glide through the water. […]

One of my dearest friends put it best when he said that I am not generous enough with what he calls unscripted time. It is amorphous time that falls outside of the structural rigor of meetings, classes, meals and other obligations; it is unscheduled time that allows for organic, spontaneous and unscripted interactions. This is the time when instances of extraordinary candor crop up naturally, when episodes of exquisite tenderness surface unexpectedly, when heartfelt sincerity slips out spontaneously.“

Watch “Revolution Trilogy” 睇「革命三部曲」

(Watch my trilogy of documentaries.)

Watch my docs Revolution Trilogy 睇「革命三部曲」

20190812 Director new preface re the word “Revolution”:

The title of my debut documentary “Long Hair Revolution 「長毛革命」” was decided in 2004, so 15 years ago. The rationale is similar to “industrial revolution” or “internet revolution”, ideas for improvement. Nothing to do with violence.

“長毛革命”在2004, 即是15年前定名, 其實跟”工業革命”或者”互聯網革命”道理相同, 是嶄新改革的意思, 完全同”暴力”沒有任何關係.

Watch HKtv Revolution

Watch my new documentary HKtv Revolution 香港電視革命 (with English & Chinese subtitles) in this stranger than fiction time. Love to hear your feedback. (note: you can use Chromecast or Apple TV to watch this on your HDTV)

在這個比小說更離奇更荒謬的世代，請讓我分享紀錄片「香港電視革命」(中英文字幕)。請留言，寫下您寶貴的意見。(注意：您可以使用Chromecast或Apple TV 放上您的高清電視觀看)

HKtv Revolution 香港電視革命 (full-length 2015)

1) Watch HKtv Revolution 香港電視革命 in a “stranger than fiction” time

As our real world is often stranger than fiction, you are invited to watch HKtv Revolution 香港電視革命 to witness and reflect what HongKongers had gone through in the last few years in fighting with the CY Leung Hong Kong SAR government for their simple “rights” to watch some good TV shows.

Why March 2016 is especially “stranger than fiction”? When HKTV’s license application was first rejected in 2013, as you will learn in the start of the film, the CY Leung government claimed it worried about “cut throat competition” might lead to lower programming quality. Well, after watching the slow sinking of ATV (the one of only two free-to-air TV broadcasters in HK) in 2015/2016, we now have positive proof how ridiculous that “cut throat competition” claim was!

In recent months, ATV had trouble paying salaries of its hundreds of employees, still own many employees millions in wages, hadn’t been paying its broadcast license fees to the government for months, and couldn’t even pay the service/maintenance fees for its elevators (so ATV employees had to walk up the stairs to work), etc. And ATV’s liquidator accounting firm Deloitte finally announced on Thursday (March 3rd) evening that it will dismiss almost all ATV employees!

And after Deloitte’s announcement, ATV investor came out to flaunt a case of ‘cash’ at press conference in last-ditch attempt to save ATV (see news #2 below). The cash flaunting event later became even more of a farce as news media spotted (news #5 and #7 below) that the stacks of HK$ 1,000 bank notes were propped up by empty boxes and HK$ 100 notes to give an appearance of a fuller box of HK$ 1,000 bills!

As ATV shuts its broadcasting down in the coming days, after close to 59 years of continuous operation, I hope you will enjoy and gain some insight watching HKtv Revolution 香港電視革命 in our turbulent and “stranger than fiction” time.

2) Review HKtv Revolution 香港電視革命 on IMDb

Please (pretty please) rate & review the film at IMDb, it is easy and it helps spread the words of the film.

I hope you enjoy the film (on your big screen HDTV or your computer) as much as I in making it. Feel free to post any questions you may have re HKtv Revolution 香港電視革命. And I definitely appreciate your time in leaving me any words of encouragement.

My best,
Kempton

Director of “Revolution Trilogy” (革命三部曲)
2005 Long Hair Revolution 長毛革命 (watch online)
2015 HKtv Revolution 香港電視革命 (watch online)
2015 Umbrella Revolution: History as Mirror Reflection 雨傘革命實錄：以史為鏡

The Boston Globe Spotlight Team & My Hope for FactWire

Spotlight the movie, about The Boston Globe investigative news team Spotlight team, was announced as one of the Oscar nominated best pictures this morning. I have yet to watch Spotlight and I look forward to watching it sometime. Worth checking out how The Boston Globe covered/reviewed the movie. :) (e.g. “Superb ‘Spotlight’ doesn’t turn journalists into heroes“, “How the ‘Spotlight’ movie got made“, etc)

Fairly or unfairly, I am setting the 45+ years old Spotlight team as benchmark for FactWire News Agency 傳真社, a brand new (not yet in operation) Hong Kong based crowdfunded investigative news agency. FactWire just announced it has finished its hiring process yesterday.

In life, I try to benchmark against some of the best examples (as far as I know) around the world as aiming high and falling short is better than aiming low and exceeding the target. Mr. Ng Hiu-tung 吳曉東, CEO of FactWire, is well aware of the expectations people/funders have on him so I don’t think I am adding any extra pressure here. I hope FactWire will bring us insightful, comprehensive, and fully linked/referenced (with original source documents (watch this Q&A)) investigative reports in the coming months and years. I also hope FactWire can work out its business model so it can become a financially sustainable business.

Disclosure: Like many people who helped with FactWire’s crowdfunding project, I made a tiny immaterial contribution as I believe Ai Weiwei‘s saying of “A small act is worth a million thoughts“.

Here are some very insightful video clips. Starting with this Globe produced clip entitled The Boston Globe Spotlight Team (~12 mins)

DP/30 @ TIFF: Spotlight, The Real-Life Journalists (~31 mins)

KEYNOTE: A Hollywood ‘Spotlight’ On Award-Winning Boston Globe Investigation (~47 mins)

Michael Keaton Discusses ‘Spotlight’ | The New York Times (~2 mins)

Uber, Hong Kong gov profiled ‘success story’, raided by HK police, Uber drivers arrested

Uber, Hong Kong gov profiled ‘success story’, raided by HK police, Uber drivers arrested

Uber, a controversial taxi alternative that connects private drivers with riders, has its Hong Kong office raided by Regional Crime Unit of Kowloon West today as reported by ABC news. Three Uber Hong Kong employees (age 21 to 29) and five Uber drivers were arrested according to the Hong Kong Chinese media Apple Daily news.

While Uber has run into various legal troubles in different parts of the world including Canadian cities like Calgary (brief operation in 2014, currently halted), Edmonton (pending court case), and Ottawa (taxi drivers released vigilante-style video, Ottawa police and bylaw officers laying 32 charges against Uber drivers), this may be the first time Uber employees and Uber drivers have been arrested in a high profile police sting operation. Especially considering the fact that Uber was just recently in May 2015 featured in an investHK Success Story (PDF file) (investHK is a Hong Kong government department tasked “to attract and retain foreign direct investment which is of strategic importance to the economic development of Hong Kong”.) (2015/05 investHK Success Story 投資推廣署 – 成功個案 PDF)

According to the HK government official May 2015 investHK Success Story (PDF) ,

“InvestHK provided Uber with significant support, including information on public transportation and advice on market entry strategy prior to its launch.”

Let’s think about it for a moment. A government department helping a multi-billion foreign high-tech company with “significant support” including “advice on market entry strategy prior to its launch” sounded like a perfect task and job well done for investHK. And that would fit HKSAR Chief Executive CY Leung‘s often talked about desire to establish an Innovation and Technology Bureau (創新及科技局) very well.

It is not like Uber has changed its business model since May 2015 when Hong Kong government talked about her “significant support” including “advice on market entry strategy prior to its launch” in its investHK Success Story. This reporter is not a lawyer but to many casual observers, the Hong Kong government’s prior “significant support” including “advice on market entry strategy prior to its launch” might be seen by some, fairly or unfairly, as potentially a form of entrapment.

Does Hong Kong still have a stable business environment where innovative entrepreneurs can work under a fair legal system where rule of law still matter? Will the Hong Kong government explain what rules, laws, or regulations have changed between May 2015 (a “success story”) to August 11th where people were arrested and equipment and records confiscated as part of a criminal case investigation?

An earlier version of this report is cross-posted to examiner.

Note 1: Uber is not operating in Calgary even it operated briefly in 2014 before insurance concerns halted the service. In separate polls conducted by the city and the company finds majority of Calgarians embrace idea of Uber. And more importantly, officials from cities like Calgary are willing and working with Uber to try to bring more choices to citizens in a manner that protect the safety of riders.

Note 2: This reporter has uploaded saved copies of the English version of investHK Success and Chinese version of investHK Success Story 投資推廣署 – 成功個案 as part of this news reporting as per fair dealing provisions of copyright law for readers to read and research for themselves. At press time, it appears that both the English and Chinese “success story” files have been deleted from the investHK website. Some Hong Kong Facebook users voiced their suspicion that the HKSAR government might have deleted the files to avoid embarrassment or incriminating evidences.

20150811 Uber Sucess Story deleted – English

20150811 Uber Sucess Story deleted – Chinese

11th August 2015 Update: On the night of August 11th, Uber Hong Kong stated “Uber ensures that all trips have insurance coverages” and they will “fully support their drivers” and “fully cooperate with government officials, work to improve current legislation, putting safety and benefits of passengers and drivers first.” (rough translation from Chinese).

For the record, here is the media in Chinese as reported by Apply Daily,

「一直以來，香港市民已明確、清楚的表達，欲享有更多元化和更完善的交通方式。Uber 致力提供安全、可靠及優良的服務，以滿足市民對高效交通服務的需求。與 Uber 合作的司機，使用創新科技平台，提升工作安排的彈性並增加收入。Uber 亦確保所有行程都有保險保障，每位 Uber 司機都必須通過全面的背景審查。我們百分百支持與我們合作的司機，亦期待與有關當局通力合作，推動完善現行的法例，將乘客及司機的安全和利益放在首位。」

Further report here (首次放蛇搗信用卡收費白牌車 警打擊Uber 拘5司機3職員) and here (警檢控 料將案件作測試個案).

Women’s Horizon (好風景) documentary film review

Women’s Horizon (好風景) HK documentary

Documentary title: Women’s Horizon (好風景)

Directors: Jo Ho Ka Wui (何嘉滙) and Bryan Chang Wai Hung (張偉雄).

Casts: Kitman, Esther, Kai Kai (佳佳), Charlene, Chan Hei (陳熹).

Film rating: **** out of 5

Film review:

Women’s Horizon (好風景)  is documentary that recorded the different small slices of lives of five Hong Kong women from 2010 fall to 2012 spring. In 58 minutes, the filmmakers were successful in getting the viewers to see how the five women living their lives and for this reviewer, to care about them all. The filmmakers were careful in telling/reminding the viewers by putting up slides on screen part way through the film stating “We are not comparing or judging. We don’t want the audience to generalize all Hong Kong women either. This might only a be a tiny part of their life. Going in front of the camera may cause hesitation or glossing over issues, We want to capture that brief moment of their sincere reality.”

Without heavy hands nor trying to sensationalize things, the film gives viewers windows to the women’s work lives, family lives, their aspirations, their disappointments, their dating/love lives, and more. And at one point, we felt like an intimate participant along Kai Kai’s political protest and can emphasize the changes she must have gone through since the beginning of the film.

Watching the film, there are many scenes with Kitman, Esther, Kai Kai, Charlene, and Chan Hei that put a smile on my face, made me laugh out loud, got me thinking, felt sad, and got me scared for what I saw on screen. These are signs of a good documentary.

As far as this reporter knows (plus checking with Jo), Women’s Horizon is possibly the first Hong Kong documentary that wishes/plans to come back to revisit the same documentary subjects in a few years time (if the documentary subjects are willing to participate). Jo mentioned to this reviewer in an video interview that she and Byran were inspired and influenced by the British Up Series when they were planning the documentary in 2010. As a big admirer and lover of the Up Series, this reviewer hopes Jo & Byran’s wishes will come true and viewers will have the pleasure to learn more about Kitman, Esther, Kai Kai, Charlene, and Chan Hei in a few years.

=======

Women’s Horizon (好風景) film outline,

“[Women’s Horizon (好風景)] Paints a portrait of five unique Hong Kong women. Kitman, a big fan of online sweepstake;; Charlene, a dance instructor and urban fashion shop owner;; Esther, growing up in in a christian community aspiring to live the life within the church;; Chan Hei, was an advocate for the fair treatment of sex workers and is employed at a bookstore;; Kai Kai, Representative of the League of Fanling North Villages and Residents. The documentary recorded their lives from 2010 to 2012. It represents a history of their growth, a reflection of their temporal moods and aspirations for the the future. The images filmed are like five mobile mirrors into individual lives revealings their feeling intentionally or unintentionally. The documentary is not aiming to judge but solely at catching a glimpse of the women’s innermost feelings in this era.”

Here is a trailer,

Cantonese interview with Jo Ho, co-director of HK documentary Women’s Horizon (好風景)

Jo Ho Ka Wui (何嘉滙) is the co-director of HK documentary Women’s Horizon (好風景) with Bryan Chang Wai Hung (張偉雄). A documentary that recorded the lives of five Hong Kong women from 2010 to 2012. Here is a description of the five women from the film outline,

“Kitman, a big fan of online sweepstake; Charlene, a dance instructor and urban fashion shop owner; Esther, growing up in in a christian community aspiring to live the life within the church; Chan Hei, was an advocate for the fair treatment of sex workers and is employed at a bookstore; Kai Kai, Representative of the League of Fanling North Villages and Residents.”

Here is a trailer,

When Jo and Bryan were first planning to shoot Women’s Horizon in 2010, they talked about being inspired by the British Up Series documentary that has “followed the lives of fourteen British children since 1964, when they were seven years old.” The directors of Women’s Horizon hopes to revisit the lives of the five Hong Kong women in a few years to make another documentary. Over the two and a half years, the filmmakers made the documentary with their own money and shot ~60 hours of footage and editing the footage down to a 58 minutes documentary.

Here is an extensive and exclusive interview with co-director Jo Ho Ka Wui (何嘉滙) conducted on the eve of the film’s world premiere on September 9th at the Chinese Documentary Festival 2014.

The Art of Producing 監製的藝術

Kashy 8pm 2014 Feb 28 Concert Banner

The Art of Producing 監製的藝術：
My journey as a concert producer 踏上演唱會監製之路
I do many things. I am a management consultant, documentary film director/producer, …, and now I’ve taken on the role as a concert producer. 我做很多種工作。我是管理顧問，紀錄片導演/監製，…，現在再加上演唱會監製的角色。
Some people say when you have done it, it is not bragging.有些人說，只要您真的做過，便不算車大炮。
I’ve never attended film school and then my first and only full-length documentary is in the national archive of Canada. 我從未上過電影學校，而我的第一套紀錄長片現正收藏在加拿大聯邦政府“國家圖書檔案館”之內。
I tell this story not to brag but to illustrate the capacity to learn within each and everyone of us. 我說這故事不是想自誇，而是想帶出您我每人都有的學習潜能。
Do it. Learn it. Get better. Do it some more. Learn some more. […] 做。學習。做得更好。做多一些。學多一些。[…]
Singer/songwriter Kashy Keegan, me and a team of great professionals (theatre & music) and unpaid volunteers (camera and production assistant) are working very hard to organize Kashy’s concert! 創作歌手Kashy Keegan、我及一個專業與義務的團隊，大家正在很努力籌辦Kashy的演唱會！
Kashy’s concert happens in 8 days at 8pm, Friday Feb 28th, 2014 in Hong Kong. Kashy的演唱會8日後，2014年2月28日，星期五，晚上8點在香港舉行。
We still have lots to do, music video to shoot, school visit to sing with students, media interviews, plus trying to sell out this concert! 我們還有許多事要做，拍攝音樂短片，參觀學校及與學生合唱，媒體採訪，試賣更多票，把這場演唱會賣個滿堂紅！
As producer, it is my job to be creative and to make things happen. 作為監製，我的工作是勇於創新，無中創”有”。
We have done some ground breaking things and will do some more in Hong Kong. 創新的事我們已經做了很多，到香港後將會試做更多。
The business/science of producing is not easy but the art of producing is harder. 監製(生意/科學)難，但掌握監製的藝術更難。
The “Art of Producing” is about the magic of producing something, out of nothing! 監製的藝術是一門從無中創”有”的藝術！
Please wish us luck! 請祝我們好運！
– Kempton – 錦堂
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Kashy’s Hong Kong Dreams Come True Concert :: Friday 28/2/2014, Y-Theatre, Youth Square, Chai Wan. HK$198 & $168 Tickets on sale NOW! > http://www.urbtix.hk :: telephone booking: 2111 5999 (10am – 8pm)
Kashy香港夢想成真演唱會，星期五 28/2/2014，Y綜藝館，青年廣場，柴灣。HK$198, $168 門票現正於各城市電腦售票處、網上及電話購票熱線發售！> http://www.urbtix.hk ，電話訂票：2111 5999 (10am – 8pm)
Ref article: 香港式監製

Hong Kong Freedom of Press under attack by CY Leung (HKSAR Chief Executive)?

20140213 Ms Li Wei Ling (李慧玲) Press conference

Is Freedom of Press in Hong Kong  under severe attack by HKSAR Chief Executive Mr. CY Leung as Ms. Li Wei Ling 李慧玲 (FB page) alleged? You be the judge yourself after watch the full press conference. I personally believe Ms. Li Wei Ling 李慧玲 is a person of the highest integrity through her years of journalistic work. Have a watch of the clip 李慧玲回應被商台解僱事件記者會 starts at 1m23s (full press conference with Q&A on 2014/02/13, over 1 hour long) and judge for yourself.

Cantonese interviews with HK Legislative Council members Claudia Mo & Alan Leong Kah-kit

The following are two Cantonese interviews with HK Legislative Council members Claudia Mo & Alan Leong Kah-kit.

立法會 毛孟靜 議員政總十月二十一曰訪問

立法會 梁家傑 議員政總十月二十一曰訪問

Kashy Keegan sings “This is my dream” LIVE at HKTV rally outside of HKSAR gov HQ

Kashy Keegan sings “This is my dream” LIVE at HKTV rally outside of HKSAR gov HQ

Kashy Keegan #HKTV rally interview after “This is my dream” performance 

Commentary: HK Chief Executive Mr. CY Leung and the Chinese government may not realize it until it is too late. But the repeated protests on the street and in front of the HKSAR Government HQ for  various bad policies may have the unintended consequence of training citizens to voice their views publicly which is required in any healthy democracy.

Happy 57th birthday, “Long Hair”, Leung Kwok-hung!

I want to wish “Long Hair”, Leung Kwok-hung, happy 57th birthday, good health and all the best! Here is my 2005 documentary “Long Hair Revolution” filmed only two months after his election to Legislative Council of Hong Kong. I’m happy to say my first documentary has been added to the federal government “Library and Archives Canada” permanent collection in Ottawa.

Long Hair Revolution 長毛革命 @ national archive of Canada

Long Hair debates Lawyer Lawrence “F-bomb dropping” Ma Yan-kwok (馬恩國) in LegCo

After watch this f-bomb ladened debate in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Some people may have a point in thinking Lawrence “F-bomb dropping” Ma Yan-kwok (馬恩國) may have single-handedly raised Leung Kwok-hung’s (長毛 Long Hair) approval ratings! Have a watch of this LegCo video recording of the heated exchange and decide for yourself.

長毛舌戰山西政協民建聯澳洲大律師馬恩國,大律師公然立法會講粗口!

Feel free to check out my first documentary Long Hair Revolution (長毛革命) which I’ve finally got it fixed and viewable on YouTube some weeks ago. Enjoy. For more info about Long Hair Revolution (長毛革命), read it here.

Is Hong Kong Police Above the Law？香港警察是否可以無法無天，凌駕於法律之上？(op-ed)

After viewing the following video clip, I have one simple question. Is Hong Kong Police Above the Law? 香港警察是否可以無法無天，凌駕於法律之上？Has Hong Kong become a police state/city where Hong Kong citizens’ rights and legal due process need not be protected nor respected by the police? Have a watch and see for yourself in this legal protest. According to what was stated by one of the peaceful protesters (based on the observable footage), the crowd (“over 100”) has been detained by the police without any reasons given. When the police seemed to be willing to release the crowd, a police officier who seemed to be in charge halted the release of the protesters and clearly stated no reason is to be given nor needed for the crowd’s detention.

“5:37署理警司:唔放得，全部圍住！

5:45署理警司:唔洗講，一陣咪話唔警告你。”

Note: Raw video footage linked to via Facebook status of HK Legislative Council member Leung Kwok-hung (梁國雄). Note that this reporter has no way to verify the video’s authenticity, there is no reason to believe it is doctored as there would likely be plenty of collaborating photographic and video evidences filmed by other media outlets present at the protest.