“History is not just a matter of date”, said Chris Patten in his last speech as British Governor of Hong Kong, shortly before the United Kingdom handed administration of the province back to China in 1997. In DECAMERON, Rita Hui Nga Shu combines this speech and other historical sources with fiction and contemporary images. Her gripping documentary takes a critical look, for example, at the question of what Hong Kong actually is at this particular moment in time.
Direction
Hui weaves fiction and archive into hypnotic narrative.
Editing
Jarring cuts between 1997 and now feel like time travel.
Director
Rita Hui
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Chris Patten's 1997 speech has become a kind of forbidden scripture in contemporary Hong Kong discourse.
Hui's title references Boccaccio's plague-era frame narrative—ten people telling stories to survive catastrophe. The parallel to 2020s Hong Kong needs no underlining.
HK
