Hong Kong filmmaker Yonfan wins best screenplay award at Venice Film Festival and condemns ‘disruptive’ protesters during acceptance speech
- Filmmaker condemns protesters for turning city ‘upside down’, but at the same time thanks Hong Kong for giving him the freedom to create
- News evokes mixed response on social media
Hong Kong filmmaker Yonfan’s riot-themed animation won best screenplay at the Venice Film Festival, with the director condemning protesters for the prolonged political unrest in the city.
In an impassioned speech upon receiving his first award at the world’s oldest film festival, for No 7 Cherry Lane, the veteran director thanked Hong Kong for giving him the freedom to create.
“In 1964, I came to Hong Kong from Taiwan, which was then under martial law. The first thing I did when I arrived here was to smell freedom from the sea,” he said.
No 7 Cherry Lane, Yonfan’s first film in a decade, is set against the backdrop of the 1967 communist-led riots against British colonial rule.
It tells the story of a student at the University of Hong Kong, Ziming, voiced by Alex Lam Tak-shun, who is employed by tutor Meiling (Zhao Wei), the daughter of a self-exiled woman, Mrs Yu (Sylvia Chang Ai-chia), from Taiwan. The animation is by Zhang Gang.
Yonfan, who was 20 when the riots began, recalled how local police and British troops tried to stop the turbulence caused by “a force from the north of China”, but in vain.
Filmmaker Yonfan talks Hong Kong protests
He said, however, this “force” left in six months and Hong Kong was back to normal.
But he lamented the emergence of “another strange force” 52 years later, which “turned Hong Kong upside down” in the name of freedom, human rights and democracy.
“Now, we have lost even the freedom to walk on the streets and take public transport,” he said. “It is like a Pandora’s box has opened and all the evil has come out.”
Yonfan hoped the city would return to normal soon and its people would feel free again.
A post about the award on his Facebook page was met with mixed reactions, with some internet users congratulating him on his achievement and others slamming him for blaming protesters.
Venice film festival 2019: Yonfan animation in competition for Golden Lion
The legislation would have allowed the transfer of criminal suspects to mainland China, where many fear there is no guarantee of a fair trial.
