Dorothy: proposal 2nd draft
The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting. - Milan Kundera
Proposal
[Steve's general comments: You have a clear research topic and a plan to move forward. There is plenty here for the tutors to discuss with you. To make it clearer for them be more specific about the archive material and how it will figure in your film and also be more specific about the workflow and method]
The project would look into the notion of the archive and personal memories in the context of Hong Kong.
What do you want to make
[Steve suggests: a documentary film? 30 mins? Single channel? Say what IT IS (not what it is about) at the very front.]
The project would study individuals who work with archives related to Hong Kong, as a reflection of how history and future overlap. For now, the result would take form as a short essay film, there are also possibilities for an additional installation depends on the research.
The essay film would document the research, alongside with my own narrative (in form of voice-over) that talks about my own memories and the uncertain side of it. Visually it would also show the materiality of the archive as a physical form of memory, and the process of it being transmitted to a digital device, as a metaphor of transformation and transference of memories.
How do you plan to make it
The initial research would be conducted and filmed in London with the group Decoding Hong Kong’s History, that studies previous confidential files on UK government’s policy on handover. I would also visit the National Archive and other archives in London.[what do you hope to find? what do you know about these archives?] Finding other leads in these archives, field visits to other areas will be conducted as well, for instance, responding to the political in-joke revealed in one archive, that proposed resettling whole population in Hong Kong to Ireland. The project will consist of conversations with related people and my personal reflection related to my own experience and memories.
In the editing, it would be non-linear, yet I would be interested to explore how memories work for the audience when they watch a movie – that is, how do people perceive images and put them together in order to make sense in their mind.
What is your timetable
[Steve suggests: I think you could be more specific with how you describe the workflow between research in London and making the film. I am more specific below]
Oct 2018 – 1st Visit to London, initial research and reading
Nov/Dec 2018 – 2nd Visit to London, draft script
Jan 2019 – Review material
[<what does this mean? What is your suggested method for reviewing the material? there is a month to account for. What is the relation between the draft script and reviewing the material? Think through the work flow. describe what you will be doing during that month]''
Feb 2019 – Field visit (TBC)
[what is the field visit in relation to workflow- draft script, review &c? Again, please be more precise about method and workflow here]
Mar 2019 – 2nd Rough cut, finalized script
April/May 2019 – Final editing, and final field visit (TBC)
June 2019 – Post-production
Why do you want to make it
The archive has been fascinating to me, in the sense of its historical value, but also the fact that it gives us an exit or escapes to imagine an alternative history. These archives and findings challenge the legitimacy of memories and perceptions, often from what authority tells us, and question the essence of memories. Ultimately it provides another way for us to envision future.
Kundera [<Who is Kundara, what did he, she, it say?] is often being quoted in Hong Kong and Taiwan’s social movements as we both experience histories (or presence) of censorship, thus memories become a public issue – and yet personal memories in a way still intertwined (e.g. the June 4 Tiananmen anniversary vigil in Hong Kong – as a way to remember and also create new memories related to an incident), the project would be exploring how these two types of memories are working together or against each other, and in what ways they would echoes.
I see these as ways to envision future and reflect on the time we live now. Ultimately it is a quest for identity, just like national myths in other countries, Hongkongers are now also reinventing these myths in order to reinvent an identity. [<please describe and give examples = how so? ]The identity issue has been always underlining in Hong Kong’s popular culture and art but only in recent years, it has been explicitly discussed in the public sphere.
Who can help you and how
Decoding Hong Kong’s History – the individuals that agree to be filmed and talk to me
People working in the Archives – as a source to know how archives work
People from Xpub – who research on the notion of archives
External scholars and historians – on notions such as colonialism and history
Relation to previous practice
The format of essay film has been an extension from my previous short film – Letter to the Outsider, but this new project would be a more direct and explicit exploration towards actual politics and identity issues. Even so some elements would be carried and further explored in this work - like relation of individual to space and history, and essay film as a form/medium.
Relation to a larger context
I see the project as an extension of various works and films that also explore the notion of memories or archives, especially those of Alain Resnais. I am inspired by few films of him including Muriel, or the Time of Return (1963), Toute la mémoire du monde (1956) and Les Statues Meurent Aussi (1953, with Chris Marker). This project would also question the notions of memories by filming and comparing personal history with histories in a bigger narrative, that is, in the archives.
At the same time, I also regard the film as one of the post-umbrella movement films, even it would not illustrate the movement itself. The film, instead, would explore people who choose to turn into history after the movement in 2014.
Bibliography
Lost and Living (in) Archives: Collectively Shaping New Memories by Annet Dekker http://neural.it/2018/08/edited-by-annet-dekker-lost-and-living-in-archives-collectively-shaping-new-memories/
Performative Materiality: http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/7/1/000143/000143.html
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