Anders Hammer moved to Hong Kong in 2019 to capture a camera against David against Goliath, filming pro-democracy protesters in the city facing autocrats in Beijing.
A little over a year later, he became an unintentional protagonist in that fight, when his low-budget documentary Do Not Split won an Oscar nomination.
Chinese authorities, apparently angry or worried about the platform, could give the film a starry evening and, through long-deleted comments from the nominee for best director, Chloé Zhao, told local media not to broadcast the ceremony live and reduce all prize coverage.
Hammer is puzzled by the length of time China has gone to stop its citizens from seeing even a brief glance at its latest film. In the rest of the world, this move brought him the kind of media coverage he could never have dreamed of.
“We are part of a category, short documentaries, which are not normally the ones that attract attention [in Oscar coverage]”It’s ironic, Beijing is promoting our documentary right now.”
His half-hour exploration of the protest is beautifully filmed in a fluid, intimate style that takes the viewer into the intense heart of street demonstrations.
Millions marched peacefully on the streets of Hong Kong in the summer of 2019, initially fueled by anger at a law that would have allowed the city to extradite people to be tried in the continent’s opaque and judicial system.
As the protests spread to wider demands for democracy, the police response became increasingly brutal. By the end of the year, students were besieged on their university campus, filling Molotov cocktails to take the police who were now free, using tear gas, rubber bullets and even live ammunition.
The coronavirus brought public protests to an abrupt end, and shortly thereafter, Beijing passed a security law for Hong Kong, which effectively ended the city’s limited autonomy and was used to crush the pro-democracy movement.
The key figures are mostly in prison, in exile or awaiting trial. Even slogans and protest songs were banned under the new legislation. The Norwegian director believes that Beijing’s fear of a short documentary, even after this comprehensive repression, is a tribute to the lasting power of the protest movement.
“It was the biggest uprising against Beijing and the political leadership [there] in a very long time, “said Hammer. “I think [Chinese leadership] he is very afraid that this could spread in some way and that you will see similar actions taken in mainland China … the fear that someone will be inspired to try to do the same. ”
The star of the film, if this is the right word for a documentary about a popular protest movement that deliberately avoided the figures of the leaders, is Joey Siu. She speaks eloquently about how she became an accidental activist student, putting aside her teaching plans as the fight for the future of her city became more urgent.
Most of the young front-line protesters chose to remain anonymous because of fears of retaliation that proved to be well-founded. Siu decided to go public and continue speaking at a huge personal cost.
“Since 2019, when I went public for the first time [with my identity]I received a lot of harassment … and my personal information or even information about my family members was posted and broadcast online, ”she said.
The video that concludes the film is the last one recorded by Siu in Hong Kong. She realized she was being pursued and was following her arrested friends – some while trying to escape – and soon decided to go to the United States.
However, somehow, like others in the movement, she clings to the hope that, although they lost the battle for Hong Kong, they still have a chance in the long-term war for democracy.
“We understand that the situation in Hong Kong will not get better, we are quite sure that the Chinese Communist Party does not intend to restore any freedom or rights that we enjoy,” Siu said.
“But we are very determined to explore other possibilities to support the fight.” The new focus includes lobbying for political support, organizing protests where this is still possible – beyond China’s borders – and strengthening solidarity.
The name of the documentary is taken from a protest motto, emphasizing the need for unity in the face of pressure from Beijing. This commitment lasts and she is grateful that a film she participated in to document their struggle now also helps to support it.
“We all understand that this will be a very long and very difficult battle, so we are trying our best to support the momentum we built in 2019,” she said.
“The Oscar nomination has attracted the attention of many people around the world who may not have paid attention to what happened in Hong Kong.”