Hong Kong, the revolution “inside” China

Looking at today’s pictures a Hong Kongin the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the return to China, it seems to see a city light years away from the one blocked by protests in 2019, the umbrella revolution. At the cinema from June 30th there is a documentary that tells about those days. Passed to the Cannes Film Festival almost clandestinely, banned in China, Revolution of Our Times it comes out in Italy on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China and is told in support of freedom and democracy and against all forms of regime repression.

Kiwi Chow is the director: «I am very happy that the film will be released in Italy and that it will be in Italian cinemas on the occasion of an important date such as July 1st. We have lost our freedoms in recent years, but it is important to be able to see that we still have a channel to express ourselves thanks to foreign networks, such as Italy. Revolution of Our Times it is for all those people who want freedom and justice. Thanks for supporting us ».

The confrontation between Hong Kong and mainland China begins on March 15, 2019 about a month after the go-ahead for the government bill on extradition, an explicit end of the judicial autonomy of the city. Protests against this initiative. It is young people who take to the streets, more than a million people. The police begin a long repression that culminates in the siege of the Polytechnic. In the documentary there are the testimonies of the protagonists (with their faces covered and their voices altered so as not to risk prison) and the images of the processions. The password is Be WaterBeing water, during the demonstrations, slipping everywhere as water can and become a tide that cannot be stopped.

The director shows the desire for freedom and democracy of his people despite different positions and different forms of demonstration. It is really hard not to feel the contrast with the waving Chinese flags and the words of the Chinese president Xi Jinping according to which the true democracy of Hong Kong began 25 years ago, with “the return of the territories to the motherland” which opened “a new era in its history”. For Xi “there is no reason to change the ‘one country two systems’ model, Hong Kong must respect the socialist system and the leadership of the Communist Party”.

The territory of Hong Kong has been part of the British Empire since 1842 on 1 July 1997 when he returned to the People’s Republic of China. The Beijing authorities have pledged to maintain some of the previous laws and rules, independently from China.