Lost in the Fumes
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''Lost in the Fumes'' () is a 2017 Hong Kong
biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
based on the life of politician and activist
Edward Leung Edward Leung Tin-kei ( zh, t=梁天琦; born 2 June 1991) is a Hong Kong politician and activist. He is the former spokesperson of Hong Kong Indigenous, a localist group. He advocates Hong Kong independence, and coined the slogan "Liberate ...
. The film was directed by Nora Lam and was first screened on 23 November 2017.


Synopsis

The film tracks Leung's life from his university education to his participation in various elections and protests. This includes his participation in the
2016 New Territories East by-election The 2016 New Territories East by-election was held on 28 February 2016 after the incumbent Legislative Councillor Ronny Tong Ka-wah of New Territories East quit the Civic Party and resigned from the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), effect ...
, where he won more than 60,000 votes; the
2016 Hong Kong legislative election Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * '' Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film ...
, where he was disqualified, despite signing the confirmation form; and the
2016 Mong Kok civil unrest Civil unrest occurred in Mong Kok, Hong Kong from the night of 8 February 2016 until the following morning. The incident escalated from the government's crackdown on unlicensed street hawkers during the Chinese New Year holidays. Eventual viole ...
, where he was arrested with three charges of rioting.


Development

In an interview with ''
Stand News ''Stand News'' ( zh, t=立場新聞) was a free non-profit online news website based in Hong Kong from 2014 to 2021. Founded in December 2014, it was the successor of ''House News''. It primarily focused on social and political issues in Hong ...
'', director Nora Lam said she was inspired to make films after watching ', a 2009 Hong Kong biopic. Lam noted that while she and Leung were both students at the
University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...
's Faculty of Arts, she has never attempted to contact Leung, and her perception of Leung mainly came from depictions of him in mainstream media. ''Lost in the Fumes'' was the third documentary Lam made.


Release

The film was distributed by
Ying e Chi Ying e Chi (影意志) is a non-profit organization formed in 1997 by a group of independent filmmakers in Hong Kong. Independent film makers of Ying e Chi include Vincent Chui, Kwok Wai-lun, Simon Chung, Charlie Lam and Lawrence Wong. Ying e Chi f ...
, a company founded by independent filmmaker
Vincent Chui Vincent Tsui (崔允信) is one of the few independent film directors in Hong Kong. He starts his filming career in ''As Time Goes By'' (1997), a documentary film he co-directed with Ann Hui. ''Leaving in Sorrow'' (2001), starring Shawn Yue, which ...
in 1997 which has distributed several films relating to the
2014 Hong Kong protests A series of sit-in street protests, often called the Umbrella Revolution and sometimes used interchangeably with Umbrella Movement, or Occupy Movement, occurred in Hong Kong from 26 September to 15 December 2014. The protests began after ...
. The film was first screened on 23 November 2017 at the
Hong Kong Arts Centre Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC; ) is a non-profit arts institution and art museum established in 1977. It promotes contemporary performing arts, visual arts, film and video arts. It also provides arts education. Its rival is the government-managed ...
. Tickets for the film's two
premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...
s were sold out in two hours, and the film has since been popular at many screenings at colleges, universities, arts and community venues, including the
Hong Kong Film Archive The Hong Kong Film Archive is a film archive collects, preserves, and screens Hong Kong films and other related materials. The archive was founded in 1993, when its Planning Office was opened by the Urban Council. It joined the Internationa ...
, and the
Hong Kong Science Museum The Hong Kong Science Museum is a science museum in Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong, located next to the Hong Kong Museum of History. History The Hong Kong Science Museum was first conceived by the Urban Council in 1976. The council hir ...
. However, as of May 2018, no mainstream cinema in Hong Kong was willing to screen the film, renewing fears about the continued erosion of freedom of speech and self-censorship in Hong Kong. ''Time'' magazine, in recognition of Edward Leung on its "100 Next" list, called the film essential viewing for participants of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests. Protesters frequently screened the film during the 2019 protests in order to raise public awareness of protest activities. In Singapore, the film was classified as M18, which meant that the film was restricted to persons aged 18 or above, because of "political sensitivities," and was only screened to members of the Singapore Film Society.


Reception

The film won a merit award at the 2017
Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award The Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards () are the annual awards given by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society in Hong Kong since 1994. The awards are determined by votes cast in three rounds after a substantial discussion session between the mem ...
s. At the 2018
Taiwan International Documentary Festival The Taiwan International Documentary Festival (TIDF, ) is a documentary film festival held biannually in Taipei, Taiwan. Awards A number of prizes are awarded at the festival, including: *For films in the international competition: **Grand Priz ...
, the film received a Special Award for Chinese-language documentaries.


Impact of national security law

The
Hong Kong national security law The Hong Kong national security law, officially the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a piece of national security legislation concerning Hong Kong. It ...
was enacted by China in June 2020. The law includes sweeping provisions against "subversion", including "inciting hatred of the central government and Hong Kong's regional government". Subversion and advocating secession are punishable by life imprisonment. The law is considered a serious threat to Hong Kong's
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
. The
Hong Kong University Students' Union The Hong Kong University Students' Union (HKUSU; ) was a students' union in Hong Kong registered under the Societies Ordinance founded in 1912. It was the officially recognized undergraduate students' association of the University of Hong Kong ...
intends to host a screening of ''Lost in the Fumes'' in February 2021, the fifth anniversary of the
2016 Mong Kok civil unrest Civil unrest occurred in Mong Kok, Hong Kong from the night of 8 February 2016 until the following morning. The incident escalated from the government's crackdown on unlicensed street hawkers during the Chinese New Year holidays. Eventual viole ...
. In light of the national security law, the university administration urged against showing the film, and indicated that campus security may be deployed to block the screening.


References


External links

*{{IMDb title, 7875626 2017 independent films 2017 films Biographical films about politicians Documentaries about politics Documentary films about politics Politics of Hong Kong 2010s Cantonese-language films Films about activists Hong Kong biographical films Hong Kong independent films 2010s Hong Kong films