Dorothy: proposal 2nd draft

The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting. - Milan Kundera

Proposal

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

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. 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

Oct 2018 – 1st Visit to London, initial research and reading
Nov/Dec 2018 – 2nd Visit to London, draft script
Jan 2019 – Review material
Feb 2019 – Field visit (TBC)
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 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. 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.

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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