December 2023
VMAC Article
A Critical Study of The 70’s Biweekly and Its Political Cinematic Practices (Excerpt)
Emilie Choi
This chapter will examine the political cinematic practices derived from The 70’s Biweekly that were formulated into cultural reproduction and connected to the political activism of the magazine. Most of the existing scholarly studies and discussions related to The 70’s focus on its political ideology and cultural activism concerning the shaping of Hong Kong identity, as well as the theatrical practices of editorial board members like Mok Chiu-yu and Ng Chung-yin. This chapter attempts to enlarge the scope of research on The 70’s by focusing on the cinematic practices associated with The 70’s as cultural reproduction and its articulation of cinematic art with political ideology and as activism, locating it in the structures of the cultural Cold War and colonial governance in 1970s Hong Kong. The research subject—political cinematic practices—refers to the production and circulation of cinema initiated by The 70’s, which includes the political filmmaking by the editorial members, Demonstrations in Support of the Defense of Diaoyu Islands in Hong Kong (1971) and An Open Letter to the Literary Youth in Hong Kong (1978) in particular; and the formation of film groups, like DWARF Film Club (土佬福電影會), Visual-Programme System (影視系統), and Cactus Film Club (仙人掌), which constituted an alternative and underground film circuit that led to a new mode of collective culture. These practices were not only closely related to their identification with the global counterculture movement, anarchism, internationalism, and progressive left-wing ideology; they also shed light on the cultural formation of Hong Kong from alternative and pluralistic narratives and perspectives, which offers an unorthodox reading of Hong Kong history during the cultural Cold War. The lens of the political cinematic practices of The 70’s as cultural reproduction is notable with regard to this lacuna in local cultural history and as a response to the urgent need to revisit the correlation between cinematic practices and the intensifying political spectacle in Hong Kong, as well as to problematize the usual discourse of the dichotomy of the cultural Cold War.
On September 11, 1970, Amateur Film Festival ’70 (業餘電影節七O), held by College Cine Club (大影會), featured a series of experimental works at Hong Kong City Hall, including Dead Knot (死結, 1970), by Sek Kei and John Woo, and Beggar (乞食, 1970), by Law Kar. This was possibly the earliest showcase of local experimental moving image works in public, according to the disparate and limited documentary archives. This was the preliminary stage in which a young Mok Chiu-yu encountered “experimental cinema,” or “Hong Kong independent shorts.” He began by acknowledging that “there was a group of intellectuals who made silent and black-and-white experimental film,” as stated in his biographic writing in Film Biweekly [1]. A year later, he invited Law Kar and Chiu Tak-hak to document the demonstrations during the Defend Diaoyutai Movement and made the documentary Demonstrations. The film was produced and circulated for an ideological purpose, which marked a prologue to the critical turn in the political cinematic practices of The 70’s. Mok interrogated the definition of “cinema” through his continuous social-cinematic practices, including initiating independent “cine clubs” with the editorial group of The 70’s and filming another experimental short, Open Letter, to interrogate cultural formation in such a sociopolitical context. These cinematic practices were in tune with the political position of The 70’s and expanded its cultural activism and social engagement from the role of publishing to the cinematic realm. Thus arises the central questions of this study: How did the perceptions of cinema in the aesthetic, cultural, and political dimensions intersect from the perspective of The 70’s? How did their perception of cinema connect with the cultural activism and ideological position of The 70’s? How did this cultural reproduction represent a critical turn in the trajectory of cultural formation of Hong Kong in conjunction with the cultural Cold War and colonial rule in the 1970s?
Because the primary sources are limited, it is not easy to collect and access research materials relating to The 70’s and its political cinematic practices. Even for the 1970s—which were named the “MacLehose era” and represented a paradigm shift in Hong Kong’s cultural history and a transitional stage of identity formation—research on The 70’s and its political cinematic practices as a prominent site of cultural production in Hong Kong remains inadequate. In recent scholarship in Hong Kong studies, there is a tendency to reevaluate and critique the dominant discourse of the studies of 1970s and the framework of MacLehose era. For example, Lui Tai-lok revisited the coloniality of the MacLehose era and its social reform after the 1967 riots. Rather than addressing these acts as a response to the locality or the negotiation between Britain and the colonies suggested by the preceding studies and discourse, Lui argued that the social reform during the MacLehose era was triggered by a strategic Cold War agenda.[2] Additionally, Ma Kit-wai has described Hong Kong as a “satellite modernity,” in accordance with the transborder cultural politics since the 1970s.[3] Florence Mok explored the Movement of Opinion Direction (MOOD) introduced by the colonial government in 1975 to “bridge the communication gap between the public and the colonial government,” particularly after the 1967 riots, through her framework of “covert colonialism.”[4]
The dominant discourse of the 1970s in Hong Kong, or the MacLehose era, apparently, is insufficient to investigate the cultural and social formation of Hong Kong in the 1970s. Although these scholarly studies have indicated that there are capacities yet to be explored with regard to the discourse of the 1970s, they focus on the interaction among popular culture, identity formation, and the trajectory of the sociopolitical context to a larger extent, while reflection on alternative culture and its articulation in cultural politics and activism, particularly in relation to The 70’s, has remained absent. This is partly attributed to the underground circulation of The 70’s and its approach of counterculture, anarchism, and activism, which are not widely accepted by the general public. The neglect of The 70’s of the wider discourse on local cultural history, in this sense, can be attributed to the politics of archiving and visibilities. This corresponds to the dominant narratives of Hong Kong studies—a discursive formation built upon the interrelation among Chinese nationalism, colonial governmentality, and Hong Kong’s liminal status, while alternative cultural production—such as independent cinescape and cultural activism—which is beyond the static discursive model of Hong Kong studies, has been neglected. Hence, a reflection on the absence of alternative cultural production will be discussed in the conclusion of this chapter in order review the cultural politics of this discursive formation.
To further understand the framework of the research subject of this chapter, I will define “cinematic practices” and locate it in the sociopolitical structure of Hong Kong in the 1970s. Drawing from Christian Metz’s concept, the term “cinema” means not only filmic texts as such but also an institution embodied in four dimensions: production, distribution, exhibition, and viewing experience.[5] Metz further explained in “The Cinematic Apparatus as Social Institution” that the cinematic institution embraces three aspects: “the linguistic one (cinema as a discourse, history, or story, editing patterns, etc.); the psychoanalytic one; and the directly social and economic one.”[6] In this regard, to clearly illustrate the intricate relationship between cinematic practices and the sociopolitical context in 1970s Hong Kong, the research subject will be situated in certain layers and axes: production and circulation connecting to the specific ideological position of The 70’s. The cine clubs and political filmmaking initiated by the members of The 70’s and how this served as cultural activism will be investigated. Second, the alternative mode of circulation mobilized by these cine clubs in response to colonial rule and censorship will be considered as well. These entanglement derived from The 70’s will be mapped out in this chapter, and subsequently the alternative and even radical cultural landscape under the cultural Cold War will be outlined. The political cinematic practices of The 70’s are part of the trajectory of Hong Kong cultural history and have played a vital and vibrant role in formulating a compelling narrative of cultural formation that goes beyond the binary opposition of contested ideologies during Cold War. Apart from the general perspective and bipolar framework of Cold War history, a closer and specific reading of different regions in conjunction with the cultural diplomacy and power relations during Cold War is needed to understand how the cultural Cold War shaped a contextual culture in Hong Kong.
Celebrating a sense of cultural activism and anarchism, The 70’s had taken a pioneering position in Hong Kong’s cultural history paradigm. The 70’s did not adopt a cultural tradition originating in either the political blocs of the Left or Right and expanded the cultural imagination connected to political acts. Even so, it is still crucial to note that this critical study cannot detach from it from the legacy of the 1960s, in particular to the intellectual group of the Chinese Student Weekly (CSW) and its related cinephilia and cine clubs rooted in the 1960s, in terms of the heritage of social humanity and the cinematic responses to the sociopolitical structure. Deployed as soft cultural propaganda to gain the social influence initially—it was generally recognized as aligning with the right-wing political agenda—CSW expanded to become a prominent part of cultural production in Hong Kong during the Cold War, including the cinephilia and cine clubs that will be studied in the following section. After the 1967 riots, CSW underwent a transformation and a local turn and began to formulate a new sense of identification apart from the binary framework of the Cold War. The 70’s, therefore, followed the trajectory this local turn passed down by CSW and reconfigured it into a new search for political utopianism and cultural activism. Serving as sites of cultural production and a continuum that circulated political ideology, CSW and The 70’s were both key publications in the cultural history of Hong Kong and shared a diverse perception of cinema. The cinematic practices derived from CSW modified the perception and practices of cinema from entertainment to film art through the prism of Western cultural trends such as modernism, while The 70’s regarded cinematic practices in terms of social positioning and even political action in a provocative sense. This divergence reveals their different cultural and political positioning in cultural Cold War and also disparate imagination on cinematic practices. This chapter therefore begins with the landscape of the alternative film practices in the late 1960s and critically analyzes the cinematic work of The 70’s in relation to it.
Editor‘s Note
This is an excerpt from the article originally published in The 70’s Biweekly: Social Activism and Alternative Cultural Production in 1970s Hong Kong. L Pan ed. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. 2023. See more:
[1] Li Yu-si [Mok Chiu-yu], “Ni rengfou xiangxin dianying keyi gaibian shehui?” [Do you still believe film can change society or not?], Dianying shuang zhoukan, no. 49 (1980): 24.
[2] Ray Yep and Tai-lok Lui, “Revisiting the Golden Era of Maclehose and the Dynamics of Social Reforms,” China Information 24, no. 3 (2010): 249–72.
[3] Eric Kit-wai Ma, Desiring Hong Kong, Consuming South China: Transborder Cultural Politics, 1970–2010 (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2012), 10.
[4] Florence Mok, “Public Opinion Polls and Covert Colonialism in British Hong Kong,” China Information 33, no. 1 (2019): 66–87.
[5] Christian Metz, Psychoanalysis and Cinema: The Imaginary Signifier (London: MacMillan, 1982), 75–78.
[6] Sandy Flitterman, Bill Guynn, Roswitha Mueller, and Jacquelyn Suter, “The Cinematic Apparatus as Social Institution—an Interview with Christian Metz,” in Conversations with Christian Metz: Selected Interviews on Film Theory (1970–1991), ed. Buckland Warren and Fairfax Daniel (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2017), 179–204.
(The views and opinions expressed in this article published are those of the author/s. They do not necessarily represent the views of VMAC.)
Staff Review
A glimpse into the history of Hong Kong video art through the Ellen Pau Archive
Asia Art Archive released the Ellen Pau Archive at the end of 2022, with over 1,000 items. The archive contains not only records of the artist’s work, but also lecture notes, information on the activities of various organizations, and newspaper clippings. It contains material on Ellen Pau as a video artist, curator, and promoter.
“Exhibitions and Screenings” (277 files) is the largest category in the Ellen Pau Archive, followed by “Ellen Pau Artworks” (207) and “Organisational Files” (194). The Organisational Files include organisations with which Ellen was involved, such as the Phoenix Cine Club (founded 1973), a society run by cinephiles; Zuni Icosahedron (founded 1982), an experimental theatre actively using video; Videotage (founded 1986), which Pau co-founded with May Fung, Wong Chi Fai and Comyn Mo; Microwave International New Media Arts Festival (1996), a task force to introduce international multimedia arts to Hong Kong; Wikitopia (2010), which focuses on internet culture; and Inter-Act Arts (2011), a company that provides curatorial and administrative services.
The Ellen Pau Archive offers a glimpse into the history of video art in Hong Kong.
During the 1970s, the Phoenix Cine Club actively promoted independent film, also known as experimental film, when audiences were primarily exposed to commercial cinema. The club fostered young filmmakers through regular workshops, discussions, and screenings.[1] Ellen Pau, initially an intern, became involved with the club in the 1980s and named one of its screenings Videotage.
Since its inception, Zuni Icosahedron has incorporated video and projection into its productions. In the early days, Videotage was housed in Zuni’s space in Happy Valley. Videotage members helped document and create videos of Zuni’s theatre work, which influenced Ellen’s understanding of the relationship between performance, dance, and the camera.[2] As seen in videos such as The Movement # 1/10 and Drained II, Ellen plays with the frame – performers move in and out of the camera, and slow motion is used extensively.
In 1996, with funding available, Videotage organised its first international video art festival, the Microwave Video Festival, which later became the Microwave International New Media Arts Festival. (Microwave separated from Videotage in 2006). The festival rebranded in its next iteration to focus on media art, introducing works that used CD-ROM as a medium. Since then, Microwave has broadened its scope to include various forms of media art. The term “art-tech” is now widely used, and Microwave has been at the forefront of introducing electronic art and media art to Hong Kong.
Wikitopia and Inter-Act Arts are listed under ‘organisations’, but are actually a programme and a small media arts production house, respectively. Wikitopia, which grew out of a programme at Videotage in 2010, has been running events on the internet, open source code, surveillance, etc. for a number of years.
From Pau’s archive, we can see a history of videography unfolding: starting with an experimental film club, turning into a collective of video enthusiasts, germinating and spreading out into festivals with different media orientations, and later into more professional and focused discussions. This is certainly only one part of the story. Video Power (founded by Choi Kam-chuen and Cheng Chi-hung), IFVA (organised by the Hong Kong Arts Centre), and Jumping Frames – Hong Kong International Dance and Video Festival (organised by the City Contemporary Dance Company) also bear witness to the development of Hong Kong’s moving image scene.
In a talk in June 2023, Anthony Yung of Asia Art Archive presented the ‘Ellen Pau Archive’ and addressed the challenge of maintaining archival integrity with personal archives. Due to Ellen’s active artistic career, the diversity of her extensive private collection, and time constraints, only a selection of the huge volume of documents has been processed.
It is not easy to collect, collate, and archive such a vast and complex collection of documents. Although some important video exhibitions and screenings can be found in the Ellen Pau Archive, details still need to be researched. For example, in the case of the 1986 ‘Alternative Film and Video Festival’, it is impossible to ascertain the titles of all the works screened, let alone whether the works in the Hong Kong screening programme have been lost.
Forty years of history may not seem like a long time, but there are many gaps to fill. The ‘organisational files’ of the Ellen Paul Archive contain countless keywords from important programmes of the past, and every fleeting piece of information, such as artists’ names and titles of works and exhibitions, could be a historical clue that the researcher must seize with a keen eye.
[1] For details, please refer to “Ellen Pau Archive- “Phoenix Cine Club Experiment Film Workshop”
[2] Ho, Siu Bun. ”【我的藝術影響】 03 Ellen Pau 回看受過的藝術影響” (Original Text in Chinese). Hong Kong Economic Journal, Siu Bun Ho, 25 March 2019. https://lj.hkej.com/lj/article?id=2090988. Accessed 1 October 2023.
Staff Pick
OK.Video Festival, 2003
Jakarta’s first video art festival, O.K. Video, was conceived by the artist collective ruangrupa and the Indonesia National Gallery in 2003. In addition to the exhibition, O.K. Video hosted a series of artist talks, workshops and discussions.
Videotage screened ‘The Best of Videoatge Vol.6 – Star City’ in a special presentation at this edition of O.K. Video. Pulse from South Africa and Videoart Center Tokyo (VCTokyo) from Japan were also present at this screening.
The Star City videos captured not only the cityscape and local conditions, but also the feelings and reflections of the artists. Coincidentally, VCTokyo also showed nine videos on the theme of “City” at this event. Two organisations from different places took up the same theme in one screening. It makes people curious about how artists in different countries and cities have responded to their history and imagined the future at the beginning of the new millennium.
About VMAC Newsletter
VMAC, Videotage’s collection of video and media arts, is a witness to the development of video and media culture in Hong Kong over the past 35 years. Featuring artists from varied backgrounds, VMAC covers diverse genres including shorts, video essays, experimental films and animations. VMAC Newsletter, published on a bi-monthly basis, provides an up-to-date conversation on media arts and their preservation while highlighting the collection and its contextual materials.