Wong Hing-fan 黃慶勳

Zoom Link*: https://hku.zoom.us/j/93158645835

Meeting ID: 931-5864-5835

Lecture Abstract

Wong Hing-fan will speak about the making of his film I’m Livin’ It and the problems he encountered each step of the way – from screenwriting to storyboarding and translation to film, to the locations, spaces and characters, to the post-production process and its opening when Covid-19 closed all the cinemas. He will reflect on the concept of twenty-four hour temporality and the emergence of the multitudes of McRefugees who, since Macdonald’s began opening around the clock in 2006, spend their nights at its tables. He will share screenwriter Ja Poon’s and his research on homelessness and the burgeoning McRefugee phenomenon. Shot in 2018 before the onset of protest unrests and the pandemic, there will also be a discussion on the impact of the 6pm closure of restaurants on these individuals, the challenges of finding home in one of the world’s most affluent cities, and how to tell a simultaneously specific and universal story that speaks to Hongkongers and audiences elsewhere.

Biography

Wong Hing-fan’s filmmaking journey began in advertising. From 1995, he joined various film crews as an assistant and soon took up the position of first or second assistant director on thirty-eight films including Johnnie To’s A Hero Never Dies (1998), Soi Cheang’s Dog Bite Dog (2006) and Juno Mak’s Rigor Mortis (2013). Working with many different directors, he grew interested in directing. Moved by the power of movies to resonate with audiences, he endeavors to capture the essence of the various characters and to incorporate them with his own experiences into his films. I’m Livin’ It marks his directing debut.

*The total number of attendance is limited to 300. First come, First served.

This lecture is open to the general public.

The talk will be in Cantonese with English translation.