Age of Valiant
HK's valiant 'frontliners' are masked, black-clad youth unafraid to use violence against their police and government. Hear their voices, hopes, and dreams.
11'
Hong Kong
IFFR 2020
"It is always my wish to film topics on the weak and the inferior. Be it humanity, basic human rights or the courage to face problems, we should acknowledge their presence." (Herman Yau)
Hong Kong maverick director Herman Yau's true crime films always contain sharp observations of social conditions. In this pure drama, the director/scholar (Yau's Ph.D. thesis analysed censorship in Hong Kong cinema from British to Chinese rule) highlights social action during Hong Kong's 1997 transition. In 1985, the perpetrators of a gruesome double murder were convicted as juveniles and sentenced to indefinite terms ('at her Majesty's pleasure'). As dramatised in the film, idealistic councillor Leung and his colleague Yueling fight for the rights of young prisoner Cheung as HK approaches 1997.
The film activates conventions of Cantonese melodrama, the genre HK filmmakers have employed to articulate social critique. This document of a particular moment in HK's struggle for human rights remains inspirational today.
IFFR 2020
Programme IFFR 2020
Hong Kong, the most cinematic city in the world, reveals through its films – old and new – the political, social and economic tensions tearing it apart today.
Read more about this programmeHK's valiant 'frontliners' are masked, black-clad youth unafraid to use violence against their police and government. Hear their voices, hopes, and dreams.
11'
Hong Kong
IFFR 2020
A social critique of class-based ultra-dense living conditions; a political critique of anti-democratic politics; and a masterpiece of Hong Kong cinema.
145'
Hong Kong
IFFR 2020
A unique, virtually wordless dance poem: a thrilling pop/art tribute to the power of Hong Kong's indomitable people.
73'
Hong Kong
IFFR 2020