Hong Kong International Documentary 2020
Hong Kong International Documentary Festival 2020
This year, the Festival received more than 2,000 entries from over 110 countries. After a couple rounds of selection, 34 documentaries from 21 countries are chosen. The programme is divided into four segments, including the 'International Doc Competition', 'Chinese Doc Competition', 'International Selection' and 'Hong Kong Selection'.
International Doc Competition
The International Doc Competition features 12 films from 10 countries, such as France, Russia, Israel, Iran, Argentina, Indonesia and Japan. They include: African Bride which portrays the hedonistic lifestyle of a retired Caucasian man who moved to Africa and the troubles with his African conquests; Of Land and Bread, which shows us what life is like for Palestinian civilians living under Israeli Occupation; Around the Bed of a Dying Collaborator, which follows the last days of a Palestinian who betrayed his fellowmen; Formerly Youth Square, an Iranian female journalist's self-reflection on the challenges and adversities faced by the local media; Help is on the Way, which explores the life of Indonesian women working overseas as domestic workers; Map of Latin American Dreams, a film by an Argentinian photographer who spent decades filming Latin Americans and their dreams; also from Argentina but filmed in a hospital, Mother-Child which quietly observes the plight of female patients suffering from both sexual violence and conservative religious doctrine; Hey! Teachers! from Russia where two Russian teachers are torn between the harsh reality and their high ideals; Transparent World, which sees a Georgian father trying to educate his mentally handicapped son in filmmaking; Hôtel-Régina, documenting the transformation of a luxurious hotel into a budget motel and its last days; CELL 364, a memoir about a former political inmate and My Theatre, featuring how a Japanese elderly man dedicated his whole life to preserving a hundred-year-old theatre.
Chinese Doc Competition
The Chinese Doc Competition features 10 films, including five from mainland China, three from Taiwan and two from Hong Kong. Films from the Mainland include: Blank Canvas, whereby the director uses her own film to encourage her father, now recovering from a stroke, to paint again; Heaven Can Wait, which follows a mother's search for truth behind her daughter's rape and murder; Uncle Guo's DreamWorks, a study of the “Art Exam Training” in the Mainland; The Chinese Plaster, which explores the heritage of ancient medicine making; and The Old Barber, which succinctly looks at the life of a handicapped barber. From Taiwan, the films include: A Decision, which examines the dilemma of life and death for paralysed patients; Ah Ying: The Extraordinary, where a hawker is bent on pursuing justice using her self-taught legal knowledge; Đặng Tú Trinh, which illustrates an overseas Vietnamese bride trying to make the best out of life. Finally, from Hong Kong, the two films are: Comrades, a documentary about last year's social movement and In Want of a Mask , which depicts the scramble for masks by the public at the start of the year.
International Selection
Apart from the International Doc Competition, the International Selection will feature nine outstanding works from nine countries: Madness in Aleppo is a record of atrocities of Syria's Occupation; Gevar's Land offers a glimpse of the life of a Syrian refugee; Zeinab on the Scooter follows the quest for independence of a Muslim Lebanese woman; A Mom for Julia is a film about three Russian women who became “mum” to a young girl; Ukraine's Birthmark explores the relationship between the director and her mentally disturbed mother; Tanda is a portrait of the different patrons of a Bulgarian Tango club; Glitter and Dust showcases several American girls competing in the Rodeo sport; Brazil's Babenco: Tell Me When I Die captures the final hours of Babenco, the director of the famed Kiss of the Spider Woman; and from Sweden, in Criteria of Rape, the victim discusses the difficulties of pursuing justice.
Hong Kong Selection
The three Hong Kong films which will be presented this year include: Floating Mushroom, a film about the last days of the traditional food stalls in housing estates; A Hong Kong Famer's Lot, a portrait of the life of farmers in Hong Kong; and Consciously Unconscious, which explores the creative ideals behind every artist.
Festival Date：20th November to 9th December, 2020
Screening Venue:
1. MOViE MOViE Cityplaza (5/F Cityplaza, 18 Taikoo Shing Road, Hong Kong)
2. PREMIERE ELEMENTS (2/F, ELEMENTS, 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon)
3. MOViE MOViE Pacific Place (Level 1, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway Road, Hong Kong Island)
Enquiries
Visible Record
Tel: 2540 7859
Email: visiblerecord@gmail.com
A hawker is bent on pursuing justice using her self-taught legal knowledge.
What life is like for Palestinian civilians living under Israeli Occupation.
The plight of female patients suffering from both sexual violence and conservative religious doctrine.
A Japanese elderly man dedicated his whole life to preserving a hundred-year-old theatre.
An Argentinian photographer who spent decades filming Latin Americans and their dreams.
An Iranian female journalist's self-reflection on the challenges and adversities faced by the local media.
The hedonistic lifestyle of a retired Caucasian man who moved to Africa and the troubles with his African conquests.
The last days of a Palestinian who betrayed his fellowmen.
A Georgian father trying to educate his mentally handicapped son in filmmaking.
Two Russian teachers are torn between the harsh reality and their high ideals.
The final hours of Babenco, the director of the famed Kiss of the Spider Woman.
