Responding to 0506HK

A few days after the screening, Chris Chiu from Vancouver wrote me, "I was one of the participants in the screening of 0506HK on Friday.  I am very happy that somebody has finally made a film about the identity tension (or crisis) which many of us HK immigrants face when we are in our 20's and 30's.  This makes your film unique because this is the only documentary that I am aware of which speaks to this topic, and doing so in a fairly intimate way. Thank you for having the courage to take up and finish this project well.  Your film resonates with me.  I am sure you will be thanked by many of our generation."

I am particularly touched by getting feedback like this from the audience. For critics, it is sort of their grumpy job to write about you or your film. Your audience are the real people who have taken a chance on your film. Buying your ticket and coming to the screening is one thing. Then going that extra mile to write you and give you feedback is no doubt moving and encouraging.

Another audience member, Karen Quinn from Vancouver, has published a wonderful entry on her blog " countably infinite." She wrote, "Quentin also articulated very well the ever-present insecurity about what being in Hong Kong would mean for creative expression and one’s artistic voice. I definitely don’t feel like the nebulous semi-job descrīption I have in my head would be at all supported or nurtured in Hong Kong. At the same time, the movie did an excellent job of presenting people who were working and succeeding in the cultural industries, and who seemed fairly content to be doing what they were doing where they were doing it. I’ve never been exposed to that and getting that side of the story was a real breath of fresh air, even if only a very tiny contingent of them were outside the mainstream." Read the whole entry on "countably infinite."

I am just flabbergasted at how articulate and intelligent the audience who went to the screening are. They really get the film. What more can I ask for but express my sincere gratitude to them. They are people who keep my struggle as an independent filmmaker going, not the high-powered critics who care less if you're dead or alive.

They make us alive not dead, right?

On the "pro" side, an old timer Hong Kong entertainment journalist Siu Pik (记者小碧专栏: 李孟熙――我是否應該回香港)came and wrote an article in Chinese on westca.com:

"《0506HK》本月6日晚在温哥华首映。映毕，李孟熙当场接受了观眾的提问。

说起为什麼拍这部记录片，李孟熙说他很想在香港拍戏，儘管他手头还没有合适的剧本，但是当他2005－2006年在香港时，他说他给自己买了Camera，将镜头对準周围的人，开始了他的纪实性的访谈。"

Read more and check out my photo with Byron Mann on westca.com.

An article also came out in the Georgia Straight from Mark Harris:"Perhaps the most intriguing contribution to this already tangy cinematic dim sum, though, is the world premiere of 0506HK, Quentin Lee's documentary debate as to whether he should or should not return to the electric island where he was born and grew up."

Read more and check out my photo with Holden (my pet cockatiel who got printed the first time). Thank you again for all your encouragement and support. I am grateful for Po Chu and Mark at the Vancouver International Film Festival for screening the film and for all the cool people in Hong Kong who agreed to be in the film in the first place.

I'm actually still doing some more tweaking on the film to get ready for the screening at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival, which will start in the last week of September. I really look forward to that.