Emigration vs. Immigration Series

To Liv(e)

It's pre-1997 Hong Kong. Jiajun wishes to emigrate with his older, divorced lover Zhang Wenxian, while his sister Minchen uncertain of her own position, often argues with her painter boyfriend about their own fate together.

This film juxtaposes a historical context consisting of the involuntary deportation of Vietnamese Refugees from Hong Kong, the Tiananmen Square incident of 1989, and the imminent fate of Hong Kong in 1997 to the relationships of several Hong Kong Chinese couples on the eve of their exoduses from Hong Kong.

Although dark at times, this film successfully exposes the human emotion which erupts in the face of emigrating from one's homeland and offers some cultural insight and political critiques of a variety of social issues.

The film chooses a main character who is half Chinese and half British, and speaks English fluently without any Cantonese accent. Her character represents the marginal Hong Kong Culture, not purely Chinese, nor purely Western, and her loss is the loss of Hong Kong which becomes sandwiched between the British and China governments.

Directed by Evans Chen Yiu-sing
Starring: Lindsay Chan, Josephine Koo, and Anthony Wong

Floating Life

Ma and Pa Chan came to Hong Kong from China in their youth. Now they are selling their home and emigrating to Australia to live with their second daughter Bing (Annie Yip) in her huge suburban home. Their two youngest boys will be emigrating too, while the eldest (Anthony Wong) will remain in Hong Kong with his Chinese-Canadian girlfriend. Meanwhile the eldest Chan daughter (Annette Shun Wah) has bought her first home in her husband's native Germany. A typical immigrant situation, family members scatter all over the world, and each one of them has a story to tell...

It is as much about family and cultural ties as it is about dispersal and dislocation of immigrant's life.

This film won the Jury Prize Best Film at 1997 Film de Femmes, Cretail France; the Silver Leopard Prize; Youth Jury Prize; Best Film for Human and Spiritual Vision; Federation Internacionale Des Cine Clubs Prize and Don Quixote Award at the 49^th Locarno International Film Festival; the Best Feature Film and Best Director at the 34^th International Film Festival of Gijon, Spain; the Best original Music Score at the 1996 Taipei Golden Horse Film Award.

Directed by Clara Law, Written by Clara Law and Eddie Fong
Starring: Cecilia Lee Fong Sing, Annette Shun Wah, Annie Yip and Anthony Wong

• "Emigration vs. Immigration" Series
• "Anxiety of the Uncertainty" Series
• "Searching for the Root" Series
• "Live-Like-There's-No-Tomorrow Symptom" Series
• "Collaboration Between Hong Kong and China Policemen" Series
• Historical Perspectives Series