2. It could have been …
假如你當時在那裡走過
“Camera and event. Since its invention, film has seemed destined to make history visible. It has been able to portray the past and stage the present. We have seen Napoleon on horseback and Lenin on the train. Film was possible because there was history. Almost imperceptibly, like moving forward on a Moebius strip, the side was flipped. We look on and have to think: if film is possible, then history too is possible.”
-- Harun Farocki; from voice-over in his work Videograms of a Revolution (1992); read in Thomas Elsaesser (ed.), Harun Farocki: Working on the Sight-lines (Amsterdam University Press, 2004), p. 260.
“Never does one open the discussion by coming right to the heart of the matter. For the heart of the matter is always somewhere else than where it is supposed to be. To allow it to emerge, people approach it indirectly...”
- Trinh T. Minh-ha, Women, Native, Other: Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism (Indiana University Press, 1989), p. 1.
「攝影機與事件。電影自從發明以來，就注定要把歷史變成可見的；它也一直發揮了描繪過去和呈現現在的能力。我們看過拿破崙馬背上的姿態，又或列寧坐在火車上。電影可以如此皆因真有這樣的歷史事件發生過。有如莫比烏斯帶 [長帶狀的平面，經過一次扭轉再黏合兩端所形成]，扭合後所出來的，幾乎不著一點痕跡。我們看著看著便覺要思考：如果電影可以如此被扭合，歷史也可以這樣被處理吧。」（編者中譯）
-- 哈倫·法羅奇，紀錄片《Videograms of a Revolution》（1992）的一段畫外音
「每打開一個討論時，我們甚少會立刻直接進到事物的核心，因為核心往往浮游於別處。若要它冒現，我們就得間接地,,, ,,,。」（編者中譯）
-- 鄭明河，《Women, Native, Other: Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism》（1989）序（首頁）。
- Audiovisual poetry, Visual politics, Image technologies, Personal essay
- 聲影的詩, 視覺政治 , 影像科技, 個人的散文
JUROR'S SPECIAL MENTION
評審特别表揚
- Love-hate, Relationships, Self-acceptance, Vietnamese, Parents
- 愛恨, 關係, 自我接納, 越南的, 父母
Rannie Ip is a final year student of OUHK doing her BFA (hons.) in Cinematic Design and Photographic Digital Art. This programme will soon be eliminated and replaced by another programme, and the university will soon be renamed.
“It seems that everything is in vain though, and I still want to reproduce these matters and feelings into video format.”
Jurors’ notes
[Juror’s Special Mention: Winnie Yan]
24-a letter to my parents begins with some carefree drifting around Kowloon Tong, then slowly unfolding is the author’s monologues about herself, her family, and many more trajectories. Though erasing one’s portrait with correction ink might seem literal at a first glance, I enjoy how Ip composed and put together all the audio visual elements (in this case with her Mom plastering the wall for an apartment), where sound gives hints and images are stitched together, thus they interweave and steadily build a heartfelt video letter. The final line from Ip’s Mom, to me, creates a weirdly unexplainable resonance; it is also one of the most memorable moments from this round of submission. Here, I thank Ip for sharing such an intimate work with us.
I am touched by what is communicated in the shots portraying her Mom. Those moments stayed with me. (Hoi Wong)
The piece touches me for the purity in making the work. It also demonstrates a sensitivity by speaking Vietnamese even though she can barely speak the language. (WONG Fei-pang)
I simply find the work very natural and nothing stops me from getting into the work. I like her Mom. (Linda Lai)
- Documentary , Documentary about documentary
- 紀錄片, 關於紀錄片的記錄片
Editor 剪接: LEE Wai-shing 李偉盛
Jurors’ notes:
It’s a very refreshing entry from this round of submissions. I appreciate such reflection. I think it’s very rare that people these days still talk about Sham Shui Po in this context. (Hoi Wong)
This work aroused a lot of discussion In 2016. I wonder why the makers have in mind -- what’s its relevance for today? They haven’t quite articulated its relevance.
I also feel uneasy with works that key in on in ethnic minorities. It is not that I don’t think their problems and existence should be talked about; I am cautious against representation out of political correctness. To put Vietnamese people in Shamshuipo in front of the camera could be cliche if they are turned into the sheer tokens of a social problem. The discussion in 2016 is very validated, as the female protagonist is struggling with such ethical issues. The two characters in the video have made clear the many issues of the documentary and the problems encountered during the shooting. I still want to hear from them the purpose of re-stating the issues -- here and now in Hong Kong. It is nonetheless a work I respect a lot. (Linda Lai)
It is a fictional narrative with a documentary essence -- I think it’s still refreshing. I also wonder if we need kindness in filmmaking. (WONG Fei-pang)
I simply want it to appear in the zine and I find it worthwhile. (Winnie Yan)
- Rock
- 石頭
Nature has its own voice and rhythm.
那一天，朋友說他很傷心的想要變做一粒石頭。我說我也是呀。然後，就有了這條短片 -- 發生在2019年，菲律賓的海邊，一個男人和大海的故事。
Jurors’ notes:
I enjoy the video, perhaps the discussion can go back to whether the documentation is for the camera or the camera documentation is to get involved in the scene. I like the way the audience is inscribed in the work. (John Chow)
I think the piece really started off as a choreographic exercise, and the components -- space, action, environment, presence of the camera, voice-over -- are naturally connected. (Linda Lai)
The work makes me think of the game Stone simulator: there’s a stone perspective to see the world. I think it’s very difficult to achieve that. I think the whole game is simple and easy. (Hoi Wong)
I think this work does address the hierarchy involved in video recording as opposed to being captured on camera. (WONG Fei-pang)