[03/10/2019] 'Debating Hong Kong’s crises: launch event of the Hong Kong Studies Association', featuring Billy Fung Jing-en, Shirley Sui-Ting Kong, Tim Pringle, and Eric Yan-ho Lai.
This podcast, recorded at the HKSA inaugural seminar in the form of an expert roundtable, analyses Hong Kong’s 2019 anti‑extradition protests through the lenses of structure, strategy, gender and labour politics. Speakers compare the Umbrella and 2019 movements, explain the “leaderless but leaderful” organisation, and discuss the shifting Hongkonger identity and growing public tolerance for militant tactics. They highlight police and gender‑based violence, workplace repression, inequality and the links between Beijing, the capital, and the power of the Hong Kong SAR government. Speakers also discuss how international allies, especially Britain, and global media narratives can respond to the protests and authorities' reactions.
These two interviews with documentary film-makers were conducted as part of the panel Recording History Through Documentary of the Hong Kong Studies Association Conference 2021
The interview with Anders Hammer discusses his Academy Award-nominated short film Do Not Split about Hong Kong’s 2019 protests. He explains how he filmed a leaderless movement through anonymous protagonists, navigated growing police hostility, and unsuccessfully tried to include pro-Beijing voices in the film. By highlighting bystanders harmed by tear gas and citywide fear, he stresses that intimate, immersive images can bear witness to deepening repression and lasting trauma.
The interview examines Kanas Liu’s award-winning documentary short Comrades, filmed amid Hong Kong’s 2019 anti‑extradition protests. She explains its two-layer structure, which immediately conveys protesters’ pain while concealing deeper political reflections, and its minimal background information and immersive on‑site sound. Discussing the Cantonese title and comradeship, she stresses cinema’s role in sharing bodily experience, inspiring Hongkongers’ response, and preserving this episode of resistance.