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Does Hong Kong have a significant tradition of documentary film-making? Until recently, many film scholars believed not. Yet, when Ian Aitken and Michael Ingham challenged this assumption, they discovered a rich cinematic tradition dating back to the 1890s. Under-researched and often forgotten, documentary film-making in Hong Kong includes a thriving independent documentary film movement, a large archive of documentaries made by the colonial film units, and a number of classic British official films. Case studies from all four categories are examined in this book, including The Battle of Shanghai, The Sea and the Sky, Rising Sun and The Hong Kong Case. In-depth discussion and analysis of more recent Hong Kong independent documentaries focuses on works such as Cheung King-wai's KJ: Music and Life and films by Tammy Cheung and Evans Chan. With a particular emphasis on how these films address the historico-political dimension of their time, Hong Kong Documentary Film introduces students and scholars in Film Studies to this fascinating and largely unexplored cinematic tradition. Ian Aitken is a Professor at the Academy of Film, Hong Kong Baptist University. Michael Ingham is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Lingnan University, Hong Kong. Cover image: Police watching demonstrators before out-break of rioting, 1967 (c) Co Rentmeester/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images. Protest denouncing the government's voting policy in Hong Kong, 2012 (c) AFP/Getty Images. Cover design: [EUP logo] www.euppublishing.com
About the author
Ian Aitken was a chair professor, and is now an Emeritus Professor, affiliated to Hong Kong Baptist University. His areas of expertise lie in British documentary film studies, the British official film in South-East Asia, and theories of cinematic realism. His most recent book publications include
Cinematic Realism (2020),
The Major Realist Film Theorists (ed.),
The British Official Film in South-East Asia (2016), and
The Colonial Documentary Film in South and South-East Asia (2016).
Summary
With a particular emphasis on how documentary films address the historico-political dimension of their time, this book introduces students and scholars in Film Studies to this fascinating and largely unexplored cinematic tradition.
