Happy valley, 2020
16mm // Sound // Color // 13 Minutes
British Colonial-era structures overlook remnants of civic disobedience as Hong Kongers work to retain some semblance of normality. The sound of petty arguments from local soap-operas of the 80s are put in concert with captive animals, political graffiti and desolate highways. As urban junctions come to a halt and then find release, the limits of our empathy come into question. While processing recent images and events from my home in Hong Kong that I never could have imagined, I've come to question the significance of personal memories, small pleasures, and self-care at times such as these. As the days teeter toward an uncertain future, HAPPY VALLEY cinematically probes the role of the so-called “little things”. A rendering of the perseverance of spirit in Hong Kong - an attempt at irony that can’t help but be emotional.
“In Hong Kong, echoes of resistance and turmoil are sensitively captured on 16mm in this poetic rumination of public spaces and everyday life in a metropolis in upheaval.” — ND/NF
UPCOMING SCREENINGS
New Directors/New Films with MoMA & Film at Lincoln Center
