Afterwards,

而後

 

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Year: 2024

Film Length: 19:16

Aspect Ratio: 4:3

Color: Black & White with Color

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Director/ Script/ Editing: Chung Hong IU​

 

 

Synopsis

I. 2014

He and she fell in love during the Umbrella Movement. The movement eventually faded, so did their relations, just as the deep sense of helplessness throughout the city. 

 

II. 2019

After his wife, K left, E began to drive getaway car for the young protesters, through which he started to understand K. He seemed to discover his past self and what he had lost, form those youngsters.

 

The years following the occupy movement were filled with disappointment, until the protests broke out in 2019. Nothing could return to normal. But hopelessness was just an illusion. Through remembrance at this point, we affirm that we could emerge from the darkness, even when it seems impossible, and bring light to the current collective trauma. I hope this film could cheer up the Hongkongers.

 

 

Statement

The idea comes from two scripts I wrote before and during the 2019 movement, which the projects were shelved finally. But years later, when things seem to repeat themselves, I think it might be a good time to re-narrate the stories.

 

The two independent stories seem unrelated. But by putting them together, it is just like “kind of” Kuleshov’s experiment. Arranging shots one after another creates new meanings. There are always some things that look unrelated when viewed separately, but seem to have a context when put together.

 

Most of the shots of this film were generated by AI with retouch, to recreate the “Hong Kong” which could not be returned to. It is due to lack of funds and the limitation of concrete environment, but more important, it is because I do not want to put any actor or crew at risk. The limitation of the AI technique, such as the morphing and discontinuity of the characters, drove me to make the shots blur and use discontinuity editing, which made the narrative ambiguous and uncertain. But it is what memory like.

 

Fiction and AI generated image seemingly brought us farer from the “reality”. In fact, this film is not going to reconstruct the history, which is impossible. But to recall the Hongkongers’ memory through a glance of the stories. And through the memories, we could believe that the Real exists.

 

This film is full of text, even to narrate. I believe that text should not be a taboo in moving image. As Duras stated in Every Man for Himself, without text, cinema didn’t exist. The film lies between fiction and experimental, which violates the audience expectation. It might be risky and makes the film marginalized. But a film should not be limited by the type or genre. I find it the best form to tell the complicate theme. As Varda quoted from Godard, all books were bound at the edges, not in the center.

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Film Festival:

2025

・Seoul International ALT Cinema & Media Art Festival
・Hong Kong Film Festival UK