HKFF2025: Unfinished (De)colonisation: Cinema Strada + Lecture Performance

Hong Kong | 2024 | Colour | Documentary | 106’ | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles

Dir.: Donna Ong 王茵茵

Hong Kong’s cultural development has long been shaped by the tensions between its colonial history and the ongoing process of decolonisation, a project that has continued from the 1960s to the present day.

This programme includes the screening of Cinema Strada, a biographical film about Hong Kong’s esteemed critic and programmer Law Kar. Directed by Donna Ong, it draws on rich historical materials and features Law narrating, in his own voice, how cinema and the arts have accompanied him through Hong Kong’s many transformations — from the Cold War era, when early calls for decolonisation emerged under colonial rule, to the present.

In response to the film, artist-curator Phoenix Tse will present a lecture performance "cinephile spiral" that traces uncertain identity through fragmented cinema, memory, and diasporic drift. Hong Kong studies scholars Professor Stephen Ching-kiu Chan and Dr Law Wing-sang will reflect on what Hong Kong’s cultural identity might mean today, as decolonisation continues to shape Hong Kong culture.

This screening is presented in partnership with UCL Faculty of Arts & Humanities.

With thanks to Tom Cunliffe.

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Suggested price: £9; free admission for students