[Sponsored] You’ve probably seen the official red logo for the HKSAR’s 20th anniversary sitting on the green envelope containing your tax return papers. Or maybe you’ve seen the government ads highlighting celebratory events looping on TV. Perhaps you’re feeling enthused by the calls for celebration, or perhaps you feel some other way about this significant date—1 July 2017. How do Hongkongers, or people who care about Hong Kong, really feel about the 20th anniversary of the HKSAR? Will they be celebrating the transitions that made Hong Kong the city it is today?
Capture your personal story of change and have it included in a crowdsourced production.
“1 July 2017—A Day in Transition” is a film project that will portray Hong Kong and its many transitions on 1 July based on your opinions and perspectives. On 1 July, with your smartphone or recording device, shoot and submit a video of up to two minutes in length that depicts what you’re doing, seeing or feeling about Hong Kong and the many ways in which it has transformed.
Selected submissions will be used in the professional film production of “1 July 2017—A Day in Transition.” Be a part of history: as sequels to the transitions in Hong Kong’s past and present, and prologues to the transitions that have yet to happen, the moments you capture on video will tell the real Hong Kong story that may otherwise exist in fragments—or worse—silence.
Inspired by Life in a Day and similar crowdsourced films, “1 July 2017—A Day in Transition” is the debut project of the WMA Film, which is the latest addition to the WYNG Media Award (WMA) programme series. Themed “transition,”, the film project breathes life into the conversations sparked by other programmes in the series. “Transition” was selected as the theme for the WMA Film’s debut because 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s most iconic transition of all: the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from Britain to China. This came with the promise to leave the city unchanged for five decades—but in a city of transition, any promise of changelessness could sound empty.
Anyone and everyone who knows and cares about Hong Kong can be a part of the WMA Film—even individuals who are living overseas, or complete novices who have only shot videos on their smartphones to share with friends. All languages are welcome, and multiple submissions per person are encouraged. Your videos may be selected for use in the professional production of “1 July 2017—A Day in Transition,” but even if yours doesn’t make it into the final production, you will still make your mark in Hong Kong history as eligible submissions will be archived and accessible to the public.
Documenting history doesn’t mean you can’t get creative—we encourage you to think and see beyond the fireworks and 1 July protests. Show the changes and phenomena that might have triggered discontent; cheering crowds in matching outfits; pigeons nesting in a hollowed-out building awaiting redevelopment; senior citizens passing time at a public park; sweaty commuters on a tram ride; pedestrians stopping for herbal tea by the pavement; teenagers wandering around aimlessly at the mall; children relaxing at a playground between tutorials…
You can document the different facets of Hong Kong that will comprise “1 July 2017—A Day in Transition,” and considering the depth and diversity that makes Hong Kong unique, moments that represent the transition of our city should be plentiful. Start thinking about your story now, so that on 1 July, you can pick up your smartphone and shoot your perspective of this historic occasion—the good, the bad, and everything in between. Together, we can tell the real Hong Kong story.
The submission period runs from July 1 to July 10, 2017. For further details, visit transition2017.hk
