Documenting Hong Kong: Interview with Tammy Cheung

In recounting the last fifteen years of the independent film movement in Hong Kong, it is impossible not to mention Tammy Cheung’s name. Even though she does not make narrative films, she has nevertheless made inroads with documentary films. She focuses on social and human problems as her subject matter and uses direct cinema as her approach. Without the use of voice-over narration, she explores the limits of objectivity and what she calls the “freedom of movement” in the direct cinema style. Her works such as and have elicited a significant response from the community. Even though finding capital and support is incredibly difficult, she claims she will continue filming into the future. Likewise, Hong Kong most certainly needs a documentary culture that records both major historical events as well as reflections from the streets.

Written by Esther M.K. Cheung, Nicole Kempton and Amy Lee
Published in Hong Kong Screenscapes: From the New Wave to the Digital Frontier, eds. Esther M. K. Cheung, Gina Marchetti and See-Kam Tan, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2011, pp. 151-164.