Leung Ming Kai is a Hong Kong director-cinematographer whose recent works include Murmur of the Hearts and Suk Suk. Kate Reilly is an American actor-producer, whose recent works include Therapy and The Path. Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down is the first film co-directed by the couple.

“For us, we don’t believe in a definite ending, especially not for Hong Kong. There are a million possibilities for how this story will turn out.”

— Leung Ming Kai + Kate Reilly

Journalist: Juddieee, Orange Butterflies

Videographer: Crazy Man, Silver Wolf, HKersNormal

Video Editor: Silver Wolf

Photos: Crazy Man, Silver Wolf, HKersNormal

Editorial: FL, Zucchhi, Fuigei, TS

Production: Imspeechless, Chifftau, JHN, Onehungrycoconut, JM

[This story is also featured on Apple Daily.]

“The story of Hong Kong is as if “nothing has happened.””

— John Chan, fiction writer

Documenting Hong Kong as it is...or was

Kai and Kate: With everything that has happened in the past few years, our film has also metamorphosised along the way. We didn’t have one specific side of Hong Kong that we would want to present in the film. In fact, the story of Hong Kong has never been coherent nor consistent—its hybrid, multicultural, organic, and authentic side, for the most part, has been left out of the larger commercial social narrative. Through the film, we hope that audiences can walk with us through snippets of four stories—ones which Hongkongers can relate to and laugh about, ones that bring back distant but fond memories.

Our attempt in the film is to present Hong Kong as we have seen it: a nonchalant conversation between an Indonesian maid and a grandma hiding a loaded history; the space and shops in Sham Shui Po; two teachers eating “pork intestines” (not real ones) while standing in the hustling streets; and a former candidate running for the District Council. Each scene evokes the familiarity, the day-to-day, the ordinary, and even the mundane in Hong Kong.

The story between the Indonesian maid and grandma was inspired by our interest in diaspora, a topic that is especially close to us. Kai’s mother moved here from Mainland China when she was young. A lot of the grandma’s stories are actually from her experience as an immigrant. In a way, she is just like the grandma as she tells her stories over and over again, but the more you ask, the more she tells you interesting details she never mentioned before.

Kate: I’m very lucky that I get to learn Cantonese together with a group of migrant domestic workers. Through our friendship, I’ve learned so much about their world. I was very moved by the loving relationships between domestic workers and the people they care for which is why I included it in the film.

We Are HKers - Leung Ming Kai + Kate Reilly | Fragmented, collective Hong Kong memories—a film on remembrance and loss

Food, glorious food

Kai and Kate: We didn’t think that “salted egg French toast” would become so popular after our first screening! Food appears in the film quite frequently, especially in the story of Yuen Yeung where they are drinking juice boxes and eating in a food court. We wanted actors to get comfortable on set, and their interactions with food would encourage more natural interactions with each other.

Kate: In some ways, I relate with the character in Yuen Yeung. When I’m in a new place, I gain exciting experiences and pay attention to things that I haven’t been exposed to before. However, when I’m making a film, I’m anxious to not miss potential nuances in human interaction because of where I am coming from. I constantly question myself if I have enough of an understanding of people to understand their motivations. Am I really reading them accurately?

What cannot be unseen and what is left unsaid

Kai and Kate: The four short films were all filmed within the last six years since the idea first came about in 2014. Everyone in the audience will interpret our film differently and will have to find their interpretation of the film’s message for themselves. If I have to convey one message, it would be that we all love Hong Kong.

We’re passionate about bringing people together, and we choose to do that through filmmaking. Hongkonger is no longer an exclusive ethnic description because we are such an international city. It’s the grandma who moved here from the Mainland, the young, Indonesian migrant worker, the old generation and the young.

There isn’t a definite ending...

If we had a chance to film a fifth story, we would have loved to film an emigrant Hongkonger living in Taiwan, or maybe Syria? Either way, we believe that the story of Hongkongers will continue despite all that’s happening right now. People say that Hong Kong will end up this way or that. Some say that ‘the city is dead.’ For us, we don’t believe in a definite ending, especially not for Hong Kong. There are a million possibilities for how this story will turn out.

In the last story, you see Jessica running for the District Council. She didn’t even feel like she was suited for it, but she stood up for what she believed in and tried. Perhaps, for all of us, we just have to try, and see what happens.

“We are Kai and Kate. We are HKers. ”

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This article was featured on Apply Daily English Version. See the article @ https://hk.appledaily.com/feature/20210123/X2XUTRVN25H4LPS4XKOWVCOU24/

【Video】Leung Ming Kai + Kate Reilly | Fragmented, collective Hong Kong memories—a film on remembrance and loss

Documenting Hong Kong as it is...or was

Food, glorious food

What cannot be unseen and what is left unsaid

There isn’t a definite ending...

Support our Journalism with a Contribution