The Secret
A rare screening of the debut feature by legendary Hong Kong director Ann Hui, digitally restored to its original splendour
Garden Cinema, London | 9 June, 2024 4:00 pm
A film with urgent contemporary resonance, Boat People sees Ann Hui documenting the hopelessness felt by many and how the severity of life post-War led to people to take the dangerous decision to step into boats in hope of a better existence. For her fourth feature, which screened as part of the Official Selection at Cannes, the director takes a deeply humanistic approach to a harrowing and urgent subject.
Three years after the Communist takeover, a Japanese photojournalist (George Lam) travels to Vietnam to document the country’s seemingly triumphant rebirth. When he befriends a teenage girl (Season Ma) and her destitute family, however, he begins to discover what the government doesn’t want him to see: the brutal, often shocking reality of life in a country where political repression and poverty have forced many to resort to desperate measures in order to survive.
This screening is a joint presentation by Focus Hong Kong and The Garden Cinema’s Chinese Cinema strand.
Supported by the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office London.
