Vanished Archives: A Documentary on Hong Kong’s 1967 Riots

Description

Created by Hong Kong filmmaker Connie Lo Yan-wai, Vanished Archives (Hong Kong, 2017) is a documentary four years in the making. It zooms in onto the large-scale riots between pro-communists and their sympathisers and the establishment in 1967, which killed 51 people and injured more than 800.

It was a turning point in Hong Kong history on which there are not many official, verified records. Lo Yan-wai persevered in tracking down, consolidation and analysis of the massive amount of information to reconstruct the historic segments of profound and far-reaching impacts of the riots on the territory.

The production team have interviewed people who have directly involved and witnessed the riots, including leaders from the leftist camp and trade unions, former police officers, senior government servants, members of the explosives team, journalists and students.

In the process of making this documentary, the team also reviewed large amount of newspaper clippings and declassified National Archives of the British Government. An important source were the “Notes on 1967” written by Ng Tik-chow, then the deputy head of the HK & Macao Group of the Foreign Affairs Office under the State Council. His notes revealed that the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was well informed of details of the riots and issued orders from time to time.

Lo Yan-wai will be present for an after-screening talk.

The documentary will be screened with English subtitles.