A documentary on the creative scene in Hong Kong featuring Holicycle,The Black Store, Nice to Meet You, Power-nap over, XXX, Rental United, The Cave and Wontonmeen.
While it might seem that Hong Kong is not much more than an island of peeking towers, dictated by decimals and high decibels, we take a ride through its confined side streets to discover the unknown.
From Tung Chung and Kwun Tong to Prince Edward and Sai Kung, we travel to capture eight up-and-coming art collectives transforming the financial hub into a unique visionary zone, webbing nets between the east and the west.
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T H E I D E A
The 30-minute documentary will look into studios, galleries, film clubs, workshops, design labs, music venues, pop-up stores and collaborative communities in Hong Kong.
T H E S U B J E C T S :
- WONTONMEEN- Intended as an apartment building for thirty creatives to get a break from Hong Kong’s ever-rising rent, Wontonmeen evolved into a fully collaborative community, a hub where Hong Kong’s creative scene starts its day. It is a unique, diverse living space in the heart of Sham Shui Po, consisting of eleven levels inhabited by artists, journalists, musicians, designers, teachers, comedians, curators and Wing Chun disciples.
- HOLICYCLE- Holicycle and Fixieaholic community “ride with class and live with style”. The concept store located on the ground floor of Wontonmeen sells everything a true cycling enthusiast desires; ranging from the rides themselves to lifestyle products, even organic food. Occasionally the boys and girls also organize a flea market or a cycling tour around the city to show off their personalized cycles and promote healthy lifestyle.
- POWER-NAP OVER- the real person hiding behind the fiteen-minute snooze is a freelance designer Vita Mak . Based in a design studio in Kwai Chung, Power-nap Over creates works about and for positive living. Vita reconstructs forgotten objects and ideas to serve as tools to make our daily lives a little easier.
- XXX- This underground venue seems to run almost every kind of event; from film clubs to LP launch parties for local and international producers. During the afternoon, however, XXX regularly functions as an art gallery, showcasing works by recent Yale graduates and futuristic Hong Kong artists. We plan to visit a few of their events and sit down with Enso and Cassady to hear what they have to say about the creative scene in Hong Kong.
- NICE TO MEET YOU- In early 2012 Geeio took up a new hobby; taking long walks armed only with a pen and paper. Since then he has managed to capture thousands of portraits of family, friends and strangers. Geeio believes we always find an excuse to justify our wrongdoings; we rationalize not getting out of the bed on a Monday morning, missing a friend's birthday or forgetting to visit our parents. "Nice to Meet You" has become his excuse - an excuse to spend fifteen minutes with loved ones or strangers and capture them in his notebook, inviting them to take a break from their busy daily routines.
- RENTAL UNITED- Damon Tong, Stephanie Sin and Timothy Zau first collaborated in 2009. Since then their gallery in Fo Tan has been visited by tens of thousands of curious minds, who come to be inspired by their innovative art installations meant to catalyse dialogue between artists and their local community.
- THE CAVE- A team of seven gifted designers united back in 2010. Their skill set ranges from graphics to interior and fashion design. The signature product of the septet are their futuristic wooden furniture designs. Yet there’s plenty more on offer! The boys also design album covers and film props, produce their own shorts and work in visual merchandising. Between the busy hours at the workshop in Kwun Tong, the group host workshops and regularly participate in countless exhibitions.
- THE BLACK STORE are all about examining the value of things using up-to-date marketing strategies, particularly when it comes to art. Visual Centre graduates evaluate each and every one of their artworks with high caliber scrutiny and run utopian pop-up exhibitions where the price is often at odds with the form or quality of the work. This dissonance is core to The Black Store; the collective aims to question the value of contemporary art.
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I
Whilst originally from Latvia, my studies have led me to Hong Kong and London.
Currently I am working in a London-based film company as a production assistant and researcher, developing a documentary on South Korea. So far this year I have produced two short films that will be released later this year.
In the past few years I have been focused on Asian cinema; having worked at Asian film festivals in Hong Kong and London, learning Korean and writing for the prominent Asian cinema blog easternKicks.com.
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W H Y
It was at Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong where I first encountered the outlandish and enticing creative scene of Hong Kong. I was mesmerised by what seemed to be the ultimate artistic fusion between the east and the west.
By getting involved in drama and film projects on the island I gained unique insights and life-long contacts in Hong Kong's creative field. People and places I know and to which I’d like to introduce you.
Upon my arrival in the UK, I was frustrated to learn how little people knew about the explosive HK creative scene. It is often stereotyped as being oppressed by heavy censorship and aligning itself to rigid traditions from centuries ago, or else being bewilderingly futuristic, and even non-existent.
I hope "22'15 N, 114'10 E”, a fly-on-the-wall documentary, will serve as an informative snapshot of the current creative projects and happenings on the Eastern island.
The project is scheduled for late December 2014 and will be released in February 2015.
Beyond sharing it through sites such as Vimeo and YouTube, I intend to submit the documentary to film festivals and screen it at Asian cultural institutions in the UK, Hong Kong, Korea, US, France and Latvia.
A special screening for all the supporters will take place in London next February.
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N E E D S & G I F T S
W H E R E W I L L T H E F U N D I N G G O ?
- Pre-Production
- Expenses of a Hong Kong- based camera and research assistant
- Travel expenses
- Lens and camera equipment rental in Hong Kong
- Logistics/ Indiegogo & Payment Processing Fees
- Post Production
If I don't reach the goal, I will first try to cut down on lens and camera equipment rental, by selecting fewer items. Inevitably, it will affect the final quality of the image, yet they are not absolutely essential as the aesthetics is not the ultimate priority of this project.
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I T W I L L H A P P E N
Follow the progress of the project on Facebook:
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O T H E R W A Y S T O H E L P
I would enormously appreciate if you could:
- Promote the campaign
- Link me with Asian culture institutions other individuals or collectives, who would be interested in supporting or screening the documentary
- Suggest the best value camera equipment/ lens rental companies in Hong Kong
- Share the final product