A film director hopes to have raised interest in Hong Kong’s history in the UK and the rest of the world through her documentary which has been screened in Sheffield.
On 2 March, Sheffield Rewater CIC, an organisation supporting those who moved to Sheffield from Hong Kong, hosted the Vanished Archives community screening in the Broomhall Centre.
The screening featured the documentary film which is about the 1967 leftist riots in Hong Kong.
Although the documentary was set in Cantonese, the organisers hoped to be more inclusive by introducing real-time translation services for those who do not speak the language.
The organisers also welcomed participants to bring friends from different ethnic groups.
A spokesperson of Sheffield Rewater CIC said: “It is more important than ever to learn and reflect on history to sharpen our critical thinking.”
The director, Connie Lo, talked about her experiences in the post-screening discussion session.
She said: “I’ve once been to an occasion where I met movie makers from different countries, and some of them claimed that nobody would be interested in watching the local history of Hong Kong.”
Calvin Tatara, founder of the Museum of Hong Kong group and one of the guest speakers, also had similar thoughts.
He shared his views that what happened in Hong Kong could be related to the rest of the world, including here in the UK.
He said: “We as people who migrated to other countries have the duty to make people interested in the history of our homeland.
“And we could do this by viewing history in the angle of international relationship,”
Among the audiences, June was one of the locals who supported the event.
“I was just ignorant to all this. At the time (during the 1967 riots) I was only 13. We only hear part of this.”
She added that although Hong Kong was still a British colony in 1967, there was limited information about what actually happened.
“Fantastic for me to bear witness to it really.”
For more information on the film Vanished Archives go to Vanished Archives – Apple TV or for information about the organisers see https://www.instagram.com/rewater_sheffield
