Documentary focuses on nine people trying to make their way in the world while struggling with daily pressures and the expectations of their parents
VIVIENNE.CHOW@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Sunday, 03 April, 2016, 1:59am
The Taste of Youth premieres tonight at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
The freedom to make life choices is what youngsters are after in the post-Umbrella Movement era, according to a new documentary.
The Taste of Youth, which premieres tonight at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, captures the voices of those struggling with pressure from school and parents’ expectations while trying to make their dreams come true.
“This film is about dialogue and communication,” said director Cheung King-wai. “With a widening generation gap, how do we communicate? How can the older generation pass on their knowledge and experience so that their younger counterparts can sustain a future?”
The film focuses on nine youngsters and includes conversation with some of their parents.
Cheung observed that many of them had dreams that went against their parents’ wishes.
Nicole, a 10-year-old primary school pupil, dreams of becoming a TV artiste. “Even a slave has freedom to look at the sky,” she says during an interview.
Paul, 24, refuses to obey his parents’ order to study abroad and chooses to coach young children judo. He dedicates a third of his time to volunteer work, but his mother doesn’t approve and wants him to live a “normal life”.
Vicky, a 16-year-old, struggles with her parents’ expectations of her to become a doctor or a lawyer, professions that do not interest the straight-A student, who is passionate about music.
Angel, also 16 and a head prefect, reveals her dilemma between following school rules and standing up for her schoolmates before the authorities.
Cheung said despite the political nature of the Umbrella Movement, the event could have inspired young people to contemplate the importance of freedom in their lives.
The documentary happened by chance. Cheung – who won three Golden Horse film awards in 2009 with KJ: Music and Life, a documentary following the nearly seven years of the adolescence of Hong Kong music prodigy Wong Ka-jeng – was brought on board to film a concert staged by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups in 2015.
The concert took place just a few months after the end of the 79-day pro-democracy Occupy protests, dubbed the Umbrella Movement after protesters used umbrellas to shield themselves from pepper spray and tear gas.
Of the 10,000 youngsters attending the concert, Cheung interviewed around 30 of them and picked nine for in-depth interviews that ended up in the 87-minute documentary.
The nine, aged 10 to 24, came from different backgrounds, ranging from an affluent family to a new immigrant to Hong Kong.
“We can’t cut young people off from society,” Cheung said, urging parents to watch the film and listen to young people’s voices.
“Parents and children need to communicate. Without communication, there won’t be a happy ending.”
A trained cellist who studied music in New York, Cheung put his musical instinct to good use in the film. He and his editors connected the interviews and scenes with excerpts from musical pieces of a variety of genres from classical to Canto and Mando-pop.
“I’m very sensitive to music. Music plays a key role in our society,” he said.
Despite a rather grim outlook portrayed in the interviews, the film ends with an upbeat piece of acapella singing.
“We must be optimistic with the young generation,” said Cheung. “We must have hope that problems can be resolved and let these young people shine.”
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1933101/freedom-make-life-choices-what-youngsters-are
