Month: May 2023

I plan to organise a series of events as my intervention for the project.

WHAT

The first intervention was an immersive cultural event held in 10 May in CSM library, aimed at students from various cultural backgrounds. The event consisted of three key activities: a voting session on what participants perceived as representative of Hong Kong culture, a screening of a recent Hong Kong film “Drifting”, and an interactive Cantonese slang tutorial. It was a small scale and only 7 MAAI students joined the event.

WHY

The primary objective was to explore the perceptions of “outsiders” towards Hong Kong culture and to examine how different cultural elements resonate with people who may not have direct experience with the city. This serves as an initial step in my broader research on cultural identity, setting a foundational understanding of how cultural elements can be perceived differently depending on one’s own cultural background.

HOW

1. Voting Session: Participants were presented with various elements—Hong Kong street scenes, movie posters, sounds of traffic lights, and Cantonese words—and asked to vote on what they felt was most representative of Hong Kong culture. Surprisingly, the Hong Kong street scenes received the most votes, suggesting that urban landscapes hold a strong cultural imprint even for those unfamiliar with Hong Kong.
2. Film Screening: A recent Hong Kong film “Drifting” focusing on homelessness was screened. The choice of film was intentional to present a side of Hong Kong that contrasts sharply with its popular image as a bustling metropolis. The movie served as an eye-opener for the participants, offering a nuanced understanding of the city’s social issues.
3. Cantonese Slang Tutorial: An interactive session teaching Cantonese slang was organized. Specific phrases related to the Queen, school, and student life were chosen to make the session engaging while also offering a glimpse into Hong Kong’s unique cultural idioms.

Basd on the result of the vote, most participants chose “HK street views” as the most recognised HK culture even some of them have never visited HK before.

** After the film screening, participants were invited to learn Cantonese slangs

After the first intervention, participants were asked to fill in the questionnaires. And based on the feedbacks, additional audio-visual sources and workshops may be conducted by HK cultura communicators to enhace participants’ understanding of HK before watching HK films. And the following intervention events will be expanded to external places with external parties.

*******************************************The Onsite Obeservation ********************************

• 7 participants joined the event, and among the 7 people, 1 is from Canton culture (Guangdong, Cantonese is her mother tongue, but not live in HK), 4 live in mainland China (1 knows some Cantonese phrase and songs, but other 2 have no ideas about Cantonese but can tell when people speak Cantonese). And there is 1 Korean and 1 American.
• The 4 Chinese participated the whole event, from the pre-screening tasks into the film watching, 3 are late, but still doing the pre-screening tasks but didn’t watch the film from the beginning.
• Due to the belated start of the event, the film didn’t finish yet, so participants didn’t watch the last part of the movie and did not know the result of the story (but some of them guessed out the result already).
• I did a questionnaire after the event and 5feedbacks received so far. Below is the questionnaire I created.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScsQR47cjsjOhLaosXkXM_jIvsShPbpHiAbCeC6wNE93zfZNQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Although the whole process of the event didn’t run so smoothly as planned, because of the time limited, guests could be late etc., it is still very useful for me to collect the feedbacks and suggestions from the participants.

And even some of the participants have never been to HK before, they still selected HK street views as the most recognized one in their eyes (they place Red tags on the HK street views), and the second recognized factor is the HK film posters ( I selected Wong Ka-Wai’s films as the factors), and the Cantonese phrase teaching is the third (3 green, 1 red and 1 orange) and most of them are not very recognized the HK sounds (3 green +2 yellow).

And according to the feedbacks from the questionnaire, I found for Chinese, they indicated they can be delivered HK cultural connotation from the movie screened while 2 people outside China chose unsure.

And the pre-screen tasks, 3 chose useful, and 1 chose no, and one choice is maybe.

*************************************Reflection and the Next steps************************************************

Had the first intervention not been conducted, I might have missed out on the nuanced understanding that even people unfamiliar with Hong Kong can still find aspects of its culture that resonate with them. This was evident when participants, who were not from Hong Kong and some of whom had never even been there, identified with elements like Hong Kong’s cityscape. Some reflections as below:

1. Cultural Elements as Connection Points: The first intervention revealed that urban elements, such as cityscapes, can serve as strong indicators of cultural identity. This was even true for participants who were not native to Hong Kong.
2. Different Angles to Cultural Identity: Watching a Hong Kong movie that portrayed a lesser-known side of the city showed that cultural identity can also be connected to social issues, adding depth to our understanding.
3. Language as a Cultural Connector: The interactive Cantonese slang session was a hit, highlighting that language can serve as a powerful tool for cultural engagement and understanding.

Next plan:

I will explore to conduct different format intervention aimed at understanding how different elements –be it cityscapes, social issues, or music—can contribute to the complex fabric of cultural identity.

What is HK cultural connotation?

According to Cultural Atlas Editors (2016), Tenacity（韧性）, Energy（活力）, Pluralism（多元化）, Entrepreneurism（企业家精神）, Materialism（唯物主义）, Confucianism（儒家思想） and Face（面子）are the core values of Hong Kong people.

These values were affected by the history of Hong Kong, where was under British control as a central port of trade before being reclaimed by China in 1997. After the hand-over in 1997, Hong Kong is a territory of China that is separately governed and has a high degree of autonomy. Today, Hong Kong is a major global financial hub with an urban-centric and cosmopolitan lifestyle, and a highly educated population. The city’s international outlook, influenced by its global economic positioning and past British governance, has integrated Western values into Asian society. Despite being predominantly ethnic Chinese (92%), Hong Kong’s culture distinguishes itself from mainland China (Cultural Atlas Editors, 2016).

The relationship between films and the cultural connotation

The fusion of traditional Chinese, British, and Western cultures is also reflected in the themes and content of Hong Kong films, which have gained popularity not only in the domestic market but also among audiences in mainland China, Southeast Asia, and even globally. But in recent year, many argue that HK cinema is dead. On one hand, the J-pop and Hallyu (Korean wave) are sweeping the world, the young generation of audiences pay more attention to K-dramas, films, entertainment and culture.

About a month before the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic in 2020, the Korean movie “Parasite” won four awards, including the Best Film Award at the Oscars. The global popularity of the Korean boy band BTS is greater than ever, having topped the Billboard chart for many weeks in a row. Not to mention the popularity of K-dramas with worldwide records on platforms like Netflix. Korea’s experience in developing the cultural and creative sectors (CCS)1 has been remarkable and unique in terms of its scale and speed. In the cultural contents industry, including films, videos, games, and drama, Korea has 2.6% of the global market share, which is the seventh-largest in the world, generating about USD$ 114 billion in sales, USD$ 10.3 billion in exports, and 680,000 jobs. Moreover, it has been constantly and rapidly growing with an expected continued growth of 4.4% through 2022.

Source: https://www.oecd.org/country/korea/thematic-focus/cultural-and-creative-sectors-1573f603/

On the other hand, more and more films of the new generation of HK filmmakers have been recognized and praised by the public. Especially in 2021, Derek Tsang Kwok-cheung, as the first Hong Kong-born filmmaker, the film “Better Days” directed by him, to be in the running for a best international feature film Oscar. Besides “Better Days”, Edmund Lee also pointed out that “Socially conscious films by young directors that tackle humanistic topics such as mental illness, poverty and old age are also finding considerable acclaim.”

1st Intervention

In order to explore and understand when people choosing to watch a film and attracted by the film, do they need the knowledge to access the film? If yes, how much do they need to be familiar with? And how much work does the audience need to do? Why? How to educate the audiences? Is it important to educate them? Why?

In terms of above questions, I plan to organise a very small scale exhibition featuring HK signituare factors (including the sounds of HK traffic light, Cantonese songs, pictures of HK neon banners（signs) in the street, classic and contemporary HK films posters as well as HK film screening (I plan to screen Drifting this time) and basic Cantonese phrase teaching as interactive activies during the event. Since this is the first attempt, I plan to invite no more than 8-10 people to the event. The acticities will be mainly about watching movie. But there will also be a poll attached under the sound and pictures of the show, asking the participants how much they know about these elements before.

The main purpose of the intervention is by engaging the senses, participants will gain a deeper understanding of Hong Kong’s cultural connotations and characteristics, and develop a greater appreciation for this unique city’s rich history and identity.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cinematic-treasures-of-hong-kong-a-journey-into-the-citys-soul-tickets-632369412937

After the event, I will conduct a questionnaire survey tu understand the participants’ previous familiarity with Hong Kong culture and whether this event can arouse their interest and understanding of Hong Kong activities. Below is the link of my draft questionnare.

https://forms.gle/erua5iobSMvnbnvi9

How do you know Hong Kong?

Hollywood of the Far East

The East and West Fusion of Hong Kong can be seen in the food, the architechture, the language but also in cinema.

From Gold to Red: The History of HK Cinema

Hong Kong was named as “Hollywood of the Far East”. Many people might not visit Hong Kong but they heard or watched the signature brand of HK- Kung Fu and the genre of martial arts films since 1970s. With the English subtitled in the HK films demanded by the British in 1960s, HK film industry took off internationally. With the action films actors Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan became more and more popular in Hollywood and all over the world, more and more people knew Hong Kong and the film industry in HK achieved in the golden age untill the early 1990s. The statistics shows, in the early 1990s, there were an average of 400 films produced a year, which led HK as the largest exporter of films in Asia (Tilley-Seager , 2022). During the late 1970s to the early of 1990s, the term “Hong Kong New Wave” came up, which “redefined Hong Kong film and helped to bring about a new era of cinema for the city.” The new generation of innovative directors including Ann Hui, Yim Ho, Tsui Hark, Patrick Tam, Allen Fong, Alex Cheung, Ringo Lam as well as Wong Kar-wai.

The term Hong Kong New Wave refers to a period of films made in the late 1970s onwards, in which filmmakers pushed against mainstream commercial cinema. Many of these films were independently produced and funded by private sources, out of reach from the state-owned film studios.These directors focused on creating a new style of film that was uniquely Hong Kong and that would tell stories relevant to the city’s inhabitants. The majority of these films were action movies with an emphasis on martial arts and gunplay.

What Is Hong Kong New Wave Cinema? The Definitive Guide

HK film industry in limbo

However, from the mid-1990s, the international film powerhouse drastic declined.

The number of film production from 242 in 1993 dropped to 92 in 1998, then to 55 in 2005.

According to Li, Huang and Dee (2019), the Hong Kong film industry’s performance at international film festivals was likewise affected. The film industry last submitted entries to the Cannes Film Festival in 2009, to the Berlin International Film Festival in 2008, and to the Venice Film Festival in 2011.

The Factors behind the Challenges

1. inhibiting creativity– to meet the skyrockting demand of the market, to appease its principal investors–overproduction
2. political & economic lanscape after HK’s handover to China ( 1998 Asian Financial Crisis, 2002 SARS epidemic, 2020 Covid Pandemic etc.)
3. HK filmmakers forfeit their artistic integrity and creative freedom–loss the HK film industry’s distinct identity: Cultural relevance and diversity
4. Audiences tastes changed and strong competition from foreign films
5. rampant piracy
6. lack of infracture in both production and distribution (education, declined number of cinemas, screens, financial support, copyright, marketing etc.)

Reflective and Revival

Through the growth and decline in the HK film industry, The Hong Kong Government has played a pivotal role in the revival of the Hong Kong film industry (Li, Huang and Dee , 2019). Hong Kong Film Development Council (FDC, founded in 2007), Hong Kong International Film and TV Market and Hong Kong International Film Festival, Film Development Fund (FDF), Create Hong Kong and Hong Kong Arts Development Council, CEPA (Closer Economic Partnership Agreement), which promote the creative industriesin HK especially via facilitating film infrastructural solutions and provide financial support to HK film industry,.

After the end of their golden era in the 90s, Hong Kong films are seeing a domestic revival. But they still struggle at international box offices, says Jacky Leung, who is an award-winning journalist who has worked in multiple Hong Kong TV and radio news stations. He is currently based in London.

In the history of Oscars, there have been 7 Chinese-language films shortlisted for the “Best Foreign Language Film”, namely “Ju Dou” in 1991, “Raise the Red Lantern” in 1992, “Farewell My Concubine” and “The Wedding Banquet” in 1994, 1995’s “Eating and Drinking Men and Women”, 2001’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and 2003’s “Hero”. Among them, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” directed by Ang Lee won 4 awards including the best foreign language film Oscars.

https://world.huanqiu.com/article/42K2pP3gLKU

In 2021, Hong Kong scored its first major Oscar nomination since the 1997 handover, as Derek Tsang’s brutal school bullying drama Better Days made the shortlist for Best International Feature Film for the first time since Chen Kaige’s 1993 drama Farewell, My Concubine. 

https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/13410/exploring-the-crime-cinema-renaissance-of-post-handover-hong-kong-better-days

Many domestically well-received Hong Kong movies don’t even have a chance to show in Southeast Asia, historically an important market. The migration wave has allowed more Hong Kong movies to be shown in the UK. However, in terms of Jacky Leung’s observation in London cinemas is that the ratio of British attendees is much lower compared to Korean and Japanese movies. The lack of marketing makes HK film fall behind Korean and Japanese films even the arthouse films.

“Whether HK movies have died” has became the topic for people debate in recent years, and the ease of social distance policy and the reopening of cinemas in the second half od 2022 in HK led to a surprising rebound for the local film industry. During the weekend, I have watched 4 movies taken and released during the pandemic, it can been seen that with the limited funds and the hard environment, it stimulates the filmmakers to think about how to regain their positions. Although the themes are different , it could be seen the local feelings, cultural landscape and social probelms (conflict?). The film was shot in public housing estates, community centers, parks, and pedestrain tunnels, full of traces of ordinary life.

“The future may look bleak for Hong Kong cinema but recent years have also seen the rise of a new generation of filmmakers” (Tilley-Seager , 2022). It is hard to define what is a succesful movie (the box office result could be one of the criteria), how can make Hong Kong films have more opportunities to be seen and how to restransmit the characteristic cultural connotation of this small place to the world are the issues I hope to explore in this project.