From the official announcement:
At the ten-year anniversary of Hong Kong's 1997 handover, Quentin Lee's timely first documentary feature, 0506HK will have its world premiere on July 7 in Vancouver as part of the special series "Hong Kong Stories" programmed by the Vancouver International Film Festival.0506HK documents the filmmaker's returns to Hong Kong, where he was born and raised. As he explores his desire to move back there, he interviews local artists, filmmakers, friends, and family about why they chose to be on the island. With humor and wit, Lee explores culture, identity, and politics one decade after the handover.
Part autobiography, part travelogue, part cultural criticism, the documentary features local cultural icon Kam Kwok Leung, filmmakers Peter Chan (Perhaps Love), Teddy Chen (The Accidental Spy), documentary filmmaker Tammy Cheung, animator Raman Hui (Shrek the Third), and many other colorful characters.
"Just before Christmas 2005, I didn't have the money but I had wanted to make a film in Hong Kong for a long time. I bought a consumer HD camcorder, picked up my bags and left for Hong Kong," says Lee. "I started interviewing filmmakers, artists, friends and family about why they were there. I wanted to find some direction for my lifeŠ and ultimately to explore my emotional attachment to the city and its culture."
A literally handmade film, Lee edited, photographed, produced, translated and directed 0506HK with a one-man crew, a Sony HC-1 camcorder and a Macintosh computer equipped with a Final Cut Pro system. "The process is like going back to my grassroots of auteur filmmaking when I was a student at UCLA Film School," says Lee. "It's empowering to feel that you can always just go out and make a movie the way you want."
0506HK opens aptly in the "Hong Kong Stories" series featuring works by Hong Kong veteran filmmakers such as Johnnie To, Ann Hui, Stanley Kwan and Wong Kar-wai. Filmmaker Quentin Lee will attend the screening in Vancouver. For his summer job, Lee will jury the first features and a short film competition for the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival and Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival respectively.
0506HK will show on Friday July 6 @ 7:30PM at the Vancity Theatre at 1181 Seymour Street (at Davie), Vancouver, BC 6VB 357, Canada. Admission is CAN$9.50. Call Hotline at 604 603-FILM.
To view the event/buy tickets:
http://www.viff.org/tixSYS/vifc/filmguide/event.php?EventNumber=1338To download press materials:
http://www.0506hk.com
