Campus Digest

HKBU team produces short film featuring South Asian communities

Friday, 2 June 2023

{{currentSlide}} / 3
Professor Daniel Lai (right) presents a certificate of appreciation to Mr Ricky Chu Man-kin, Chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission (left).
Mr Ricky Chu Man-kin,IDS (4th left) and the production team members of We Are Hong Kongers.
Professor Daniel Lai (right) thanks Dr Rizwan Ullah (left) and Mr Ayyan Ullah (middle) for being the cast members.

A team led by Professor Daniel Lai, Dean and Chair Professor of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and Dr Sobel Chan, former Senior Lecturer of the Academy of Film, has produced the short film We Are Hong Kongers. The film portrays the difficulties and challenges faced by a retired South Asian Hong Konger, and how he gains strength from his family and social networks.

Production of the short film was inspired by a research project conducted by Professor Lai and supported by funding from the Research Grant Council. The project studies the health and social capital of older South Asian adults in Hong Kong. The team developed the film’s script based on information collected through interviews conducted from 2021 to 2022 with older South Asians in Hong Kong about their daily lives. The film was shown in a research-sharing session held on 5 May with Mr Ricky Chu Man-kin, Chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission as the guest of honour.

The film’s script was shortlisted as a finalist in the Beautiful Hong Kong Short Film Competition 2021 organised by the Sil-Metropole Organization Ltd and supported by The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups and a number of other film companies. A seed production fund was awarded to support the film’s shooting and production. Production of the film was completed in April 2022.  The production team hopes that the short film and the research project can arouse society’s awareness of the challenges faced by older ethnic minority adults in Hong Kong, and provide inspiration that can encourage actions to help them.