With the development of the Internet, a new form of documentary emerged. Documentaries and recordings of Lee Tung Street, Choi Yuen Village, Occupy Central made their ways to the Internet taking on new looks and new functions. At the same time, traditional documentaries such as Louie Psihoyos “The Cove” (2009) and Cheung King-wai’s “KJ: Music and Life” (2009) were enthusiastically received while Chinese documentaries continue to win awards at film festivals. Documentaries seem to entering a new era yet our knowledge still lags far behind. This crash course will try to take up this slack. In two days, our small group will make friends; share food, ideas, experiences; watch excellent and important documentaries; have fun and find new ways to look at documentary and film.
Date and Time: 25 / 2 & 26 / 2 / 2012 10:30am-6pm
Venue: Eric Hotung Studio, Hong Kong Arts Centre (LB, Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Road, Wan Chai)
Quota: 15
Conducted in Cantonese
Tuition Fee: HK$980 (a total of 15 hours in a span of 2 days)
Biography of Jimmy Choi
Former head of the Film and Video Department at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, film and documentary educator and practitioner specializing in Activist Documentary. He has been on the juror panels of international film festivals in Taipei, Rotterdam, Berlin, Yamagata Singapore etc., val. Currently, he teaches part-time at various universities including The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, Lingnan University, City University of Hong Kong etc. Courses include: documentaries, new Asian film studies, film theory, Chinese film & society, new technology & society, arts administration etc.
Workshop content
- In the 2-day Workshop, we will examine various facets of documentary through screening of an array of important and interesting works, and to explore the genre’s future directions.
- The Workshop is for both newbies and professionals, hence there will be a highlight on fundamental concepts, styles, and schools of documentary filmmaking and appreciation. Deconstruct preconceptions and question clichés so to liberate our minds to explore new approaches to the subject.
- Emphasis will be put on communication and mutual exchange, so the class will be small and the atmosphere will be casual. Participants will get to know each other and have lunch and tea together.
- There will be at least two lectures a day, each lasts for 2.5 hours. (Lectures and feedback will be given throughout the day in the form of casual talks after screenings and refreshment.) In this workshop, participants and facilitator (the lecturer) will learn together in a casual atmosphere like a gathering of friends (When the class is small the lecture room will be turned into a big sitting room if possible). Participants will get to know each other when the workshop starts and they will talk about documentaries, concepts, and issues throughout the day over food and drink. Although the workshop emphasizes the quality of knowledge acquired over quantity, upon completion, participants will make friends and be able to explain with different profundity, what is documentary, how it differs from Public Affair Programmes, the development of various modes and schools, problems of some key issues (e.g. objectivity, reality, ethics etc.,), documentary as social action; and to introduce some fascinating unconventional documentaries. Applicants can also suggest topics for incorporating into the workshop whenever possible.
