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[firehawk12]

When the Chinese Communist Party backtracks on its promise of autonomy to Hong Kong, teenager Joshua Wong decides to save his city. Rallying thousands of kids to skip school and occupy the streets, Joshua becomes an unlikely leader in Hong Kong and one of China's most notorious dissidents.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lN9_mQq2mQ

I just wanted to point out that the documentary came out today. If you remember the Hong Kong protests from 4 years ago or so, this documentary takes you behind the scenes by following Joshua Wong soon after he started Scholarism, the student protest movement that rallied against the imposed National Education system.

The documentary itself is an interesting mix between being a biography of Joshua and a history of the protests themselves, although admittedly it doesn't get too in depth into either. For example, what does it mean to be a teenager targeted by the Chinese government? It's a question that isn't really considered, other than the kids admitting that they weren't sure how to process the danger of protesting against a communist government.

That said, there are some small touches that are illuminating, particularly since this was a Chinese protest - the students talk about how their parents felt that they were wasting their time, since the occupy movement fizzled out, and that they should have been focused on their studies instead. I know it's a sentiment that I've heard my parents express when the protests were happening.

(I'm sure a Chinese comedian could make a joke about how they didn't get an "A" in protesting so their parents consider them failures ).

Anyway, if you want to watch a film about the power of protest and how a protest movement can evolve into a political movement, then this film is for you.

 

[iRAWRasaurus]

Is this worth watching?

 

[milkham]

I'm assuming he disappears in the end and sends cryptic text messages about visiting sick family on the mainland?

 

[GG-Duo]

As someone who is from Hong Kong and as someone who has followed this Umbrella Movement stuff for a long time, I’m glad that Netflix is promoting this.

The overarching theme of modern Hong Kong is pretty depressing, but at least there are people who documented this inspiring moment in time before its inevitable decline.

 

[firehawk12]

Is this worth watching?

Yes, you do get some glimpses into Joshua Wong's life behind the scenes at the very least.

I'm assuming he disappears in the end and sends cryptic text messages about visiting sick family on the mainland?

They actually talk about how a group of book sellers "disappeared" and they were worried about their own safety.

As someone who is from Hong Kong and as someone who has followed this Umbrella Movement stuff for a long time, I’m glad that Netflix is promoting this.

The overarching theme of modern Hong Kong is pretty depressing, but at least there are people who documented this inspiring moment in time before its inevitable decline.

Yeah. Short of independence, I don't see how they stop the inevitable assimilation.

 

[firehawk12]

Just a bit of an update I saw today - Joshua was just sentenced to 6 months in jail for the protests documented in this film.

 

[SRG01]

Yeah, the Hong Kong government and court system aren't exactly impartial or fair...

As someone who is from Hong Kong and as someone who has followed this Umbrella Movement stuff for a long time, I'm glad that Netflix is promoting this.

The overarching theme of modern Hong Kong is pretty depressing, but at least there are people who documented this inspiring moment in time before its inevitable decline.

The worst part of it all? It was the youth that wanted a better future for everyone else, and no one else had the courage to support them.

 

[firehawk12]

The film made it clear that it was totally a generational divide and that the people who would basically be the age of these kids' parents wanted to do everything they could to avoid rocking the boat. Of course they're not the ones who will have to live with intractable Communist rule for the rest of their lives either.