The screening on 18 April will be preceded by a reception at the cinema's Atrium Bar and followed by an in-person Q&A with the director Ann Hui, moderated by Chris Berry (KCL).
Ann Hui began her career shining a light on the plight of the illegal Vietnamese immigrants who had been flocking to Hong Kong since the mid-1970s with the 1978 TV drama Below the Lion Rock: The Boy From Vietnam, which she followed with her third feature The Story of Woo Viet in 1981, before completing her ‘Vietnam Trilogy’ in 1982 with Boat People. Deeply humanistic and compassionate, while never shying away from the harshness of reality, the first two entries in the trilogy both follow the stories of the immigrants themselves, and the increasing controversy around the issue in Hong Kong.
This theme was applied in The Story of Woo Viet, with Chow Yun-Fat’s Vietnamese immigrant forced to become a Triad assassin to protect the woman he loves, which combines action, romance and character drama, and through its tale of refugees also meditates on the experiences of the Hong Kong diaspora overseas.
This screening is in partnership with the Chinese Cinema Project and Focus Hong Kong. Supported by the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office London. In
Cantonese with English subtitles.
