Qasim Khan and Kaneeta Arshad were looking for an idea for a film they wanted to pitch at the first Hong Kong chapter of the Inspiring Asia Micro Film Festival.
And then Arshad dug into a particularly painful, and equally reassuring, moment in her life to come up with one.
Between the Unsaid, the film she eventually produced, is based on her experiences following her father’s death, and how the neighbors rallied around her Hong Kong-based Pakistani family in the time of grief.
READ MORE: A journey in filmmaking can start with a micro-short step
The film clinched the top prize at the Hong Kong finals of the festival on Sept 21. The judges praised the work for showing “how kindness can cross linguistic and cultural boundaries”.
“All of our neighbors are Chinese and even without us sharing a common language, they had such a positive impact on our lives. I was really young, and them helping us even without knowing us or our language was a life-changing thing for me.”
Between the Unsaid follows a growing friendship between a Pakistani tailor and a native Hong Kong florist — drawn together after a family tragedy, despite the fact that they don’t share a language. It’s also a story that lives and breathes Hong Kong. The viewer is taken through the city’s bustling streets, scenes of confined domestic spaces — and the tensions that can arise within them — and its palpable and unmistakable sense of community.
Khan, the director, explains that he wanted the film to reflect the community he knew in Hong Kong. “It’s more about bonding, and that’s how people solve problems.”
Between the Unsaid certainly fit the bill in terms of what the pan-Asian festival has set out to achieve since its first edition — held in Singapore in 2021. Since then, the event has been promoting communities — and community endeavors — across the region, while showcasing works by rising filmmaking talent.
For its first Hong Kong edition, filmmakers were given just two months to make three-to-six-minute-long films on the theme of “community empowerment”. Supported by the Asia Community Foundation, there was a total of HK$279,000 to be won, across three categories — Best Micro Film, Best Project and Best AI Film.
The festival’s first Hong Kong iteration was the result of a collaboration between the Hong Kong Academy for Wealth Legacy (HKAWL) and the social enterprise Under Production, which trains aspiring filmmakers in the uses of multimedia and the nitty-gritty of film production. HKAWL spokesperson and Executive Director Angel Chia says that the festival aims to inspire “strategic philanthropy” — connecting family foundations to the stories of “those that need help” while encouraging “a lot more of our local young people to become more impactful storytellers”.
Best AI Film went to The Story Hunter. Chen Yimin directed and wrote the script, while Ethan Wong was responsible for the AI work. The film tells the story of an 80-year-old Hong Kong lady whose life changes once she starts sharing her experiences with college students.
The Superpower of Little Hands picked up the Best Project gong for the Hand in Hand Association and is a celebration of the lives of kids with congenital limb differences and the work that goes into supporting them.
Oscar-winner Ruby Yang (The Blood of Yingzhou District), who is also the director of the School of Future Media at the University of Hong Kong, was one of the judges for the Hong Kong finals. She praised the winners for their honesty.
Yang adds that she was looking for honest depictions of reality in the festival entries. “I think you can feel it when they tell it from their heart. I was looking for storytelling, not for the best craftsmanship.”
The three films have now moved on to the final judging stage. The overall winners will be announced in Manila on Oct 25. Community screenings in Hong Kong are on the cards.
The writer is a freelance contributor to China Daily.
