This clandestine account of the massive Hong Kong democracy protests which brought over a million citizens out onto the streets in 2019 is riveting viewing. Director Kiwi Chow was there in the midst of the epochal moment, and with the help of a wide array of pseudonymous interviewees (many of them masked or digitally camouflaged) presents a fascinating chronicle of how the movement sprang into being, evolved and organized itself in the face of brutal authoritarian repression. Students led the charge, and even broke into the legislature – to the dismay of some.
The film is full of fascinating insights into the protestors’ philosophical and strategic thinking. One talks about how online gaming had prepared his generation to coordinate with strangers. “Be water”, was a prevailing mantra; that is, be fleet, flexible and fluid. As for the title, it comes from the popular slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” a slogan that is now illegal in Hong Kong under the June 2020 National Security Law.
Blistering… Gripping… With specificity, sweep and urgency, occasionally terrifying and bloody when capturing violent police tactics, Chow’s movie is a true epic of meaningful resistance.
Robert Abele, LA Times
Kiwi Chow
Hong Kong
2021
In Cantonese with English subtitles