Yellowing

Tze Woon Chan / Hong Kong / 2016 / European Premiere / 133 min.

synopsis

The Hong Kong protests of 2014 known as the “Umbrella Revolution” were an expression of some people’s dissatisfaction with the restrictive interventions in local affairs by the Chinese government. The protestors, primarily young people, rejected the limitations on local autonomy made by the communist government. In his first-person participant documentary, director Tze-woon Chan and his hand-held camera become a part of events in the island city. Over the course of 20 chapters (or “memos”), the film’s young protagonists express their feelings and views of the revolution whose cruel historical momentum rolled right over them.

“Hearts might change before China’s assumed complete takeover. But I made Yellowing to document the Umbrella Movement, in the hope that our initial intent and belief might be remembered and be reminded of.”

biography

Chan Tze Woon (1987) studied political sciences and film production at the Baptist University of Hong Kong. His first two films, The Aqueous Truth (2013) and Being Rain: Representation and Will (2014), are essentially mockumentaries that used a conspirational narrative form to reveal hidden truths about Hong Kong politics. Among other things, Yellowing (2016) is a documentary of his participation in the Umbrella Revolution.