The film, “Ten Years”, explores 5 short stories of a potential future Hong Kong, where China has augmented its influences: a story of a self-immolation incident in front of the Hong Kong government office; a story where Cantonese is no longer used in Hong Kong; and a story of a bookshop owner being attacked by brainwashed children for owning a forbidden book. These stories are portrayed in realism beyond expectation.

While being an independent film, it became a major hit through word of mouth, and even received the Hong Kong Film Award for the best film of 2016. In stark contrast to the favorable reception, the film that depicted the Beijing government depriving Hong Kong of freedom had the Chinese media branding it a “virus of ideology”.

We interviewed producer Ng ka-Leung on his visit to Japan for the Japanese release of the film on 22 July.

–How are you feeling about the Japanese release?

This film is not entertainment; nor is it a film starring famous actors: it only depicts the Hong Kong locality. But when this film showed at the 2017 Osaka Asian Film Festival, we got a lot of media attention. The audience comments upon seeing the film showed us that the film is serving a great purpose. They watched the film thinking about the future of our hometown, and made it a topic of discussion.

Our Decisions Now Will Determine the Future 10 Years On

–Now, 2 years after the Hong Kong release of the film, we see China’s pressures continuing to grow.

Yes. In a way, this film is a political prediction. But we’re not worried about whether we were right or not. Like you said, the situation in Hong Kong has not improved these past 2 years: Beijing’s authority is expanding. But what is important is to consider the circumstances and think, “How will my decisions now affect the future 10 years on?” If people who watch this film begin to think like this, it will mean much more to us than if our prediction came true.

Looking Past the Deception

–What do you think is necessary to protect Hong Kong’s liberty?

The government is now manipulating many things and brainwashing the citizens. For example, property values are sky high in Hong Kong, and we were always told it was because Hong Kong is small and crowded. But the truth is because wealthy Mainland investors and developers are buying them.

It is important that the people make an effort to look past the deception to judge whether the explanations and facts that we’ve been given are actually right. For this, the people of Hong Kong must unite, and this will contribute to protecting Hong Kong.

I would like to continue creating works with this issue in mind.