When A City Rises

During the 2019 protests in Hong Kong, a handful of activists came together with a wish to tell the story of what was happening through live footage. Amongst others, we get to follow a 21-year-old student, a teenage couple, and a young father of two, all fighting against the powers that be in order to protect democracy. This is an explosive documentary, which takes us behind the scenes of the dramatic images broadcast across international media as the protests took place. The film was conceived and shot as a collaboration between the seven directors, on their own terms and those of the local community. When A City Rises paints an intimate portrait of individuals who all find a place for themselves in the social movement, and of the informal infrastructure that characterised the protests. The film won the F:ACT Award at CPH:DOX.

“A film which is not only one of the most complete accounts of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests to date, it's also, at times, an unbearably tense picture which unfolds with urgency of a thriller.” – Screen International

Ed.

Director

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