Twenty years on : Hong Kong dissident documentarians and the Tiananmen factor

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Studies in Documentary Film

Publication Date

2012

Volume

6

Issue

1

First Page

81

Last Page

97

Keywords

Tiananmen, dissident truth claims, independent local identity transnationalisation, sinicisation

Abstract

This article will explore how voices of dissent are articulated within a highly marginalised but vibrantly independent Hong Kong documentary film practice. In view of the city’s almost clichéd East-West hybrid identity, its fluctuating fortunes and its current political transition process, it is unsurprising that Hong Kong documentary makers have made a significant though largely under-estimated contribution to the city’s political, social and cultural discourse. Following recent research on Hong Kong documentary film history, it is clear that much of the Territory’s documentary history reveals two major stimuli to its documentary film-making: namely government authorisation and patronage and, on the other hand, patriotic concern for the mainland on the part of independent film-makers. As I will argue, the Tiananmen massacre or ‘incident’ that occurred over twenty years ago proved a watershed in Hong Kong’s documentary film-making. In effect it broke the mould, by introducing a strongly dissident and sceptical strain among documentarians vis-à-vis relations with the China Mainland. This dissident strain has generally been neglected in critical discourses on Hong Kong cinema, a neglect that the present article seeks to remedy

DOI

10.1386/sdf.6.1.81_1

Print ISSN

17503280

E-ISSN

17503299

Publisher Statement

© 2012 Intellect Ltd Article. English language.

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Additional Information

This article was given in a considerably shorter form as part of the opening panel on Hong Kong Film at the Documentary Film Conference: Hong Kong, the Regional Context and Theoretical Perspectives at the Hong Kong Baptist University on Monday 25 May 2009.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Ingham, M. (2012). Twenty years on: Hong Kong dissident documentarians and the Tiananmen factor. Studies in Documentary Film, 6(1), 81-97. doi: 10.1386/sdf.6.1.81_1

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