Short sci-fi film about a meteor heading to Hong Kong, blocked by China

April 13, 2014 10:43 AM

香港將於33年後毀滅 (Hong Kong will be destroyed after 33 years) is a near-future sci-fi short film about a fictional meteor that is headed for Hong Kong and expected to impact in 2047, but the public at large does nothing to address this impending doom. It might seem like an innocuous enough film, but China thought there was more to the story than that, and State Council Information Office requested that websites immediately remove video, text, etc. that advocates the short sci-fi film about Hong Kongers “saving themselves” titled Hong Kong Will Be Destroyed in 33 Years. The Diplomat has a bit more information about the film's not entirely coincidental use of the year 2047, the year in which China's Special Administrative Region (SAR) agreement with Hong Kong is set to expire, possibly bringing an end to one country, two systems.
posted by filthy light thief (8 comments total)

Awesome concept. See also Occupy Central.
posted by ageispolis at 11:00 AM on April 13, 2014

Wow - this was really interesting to see. There seems to be so much background information implied in the film - not just the date, but also the descriptions of how the city came back to life once the bulk of the population left. I'm particularly curious about why they mention no more grey-market products - is that the kind of problem that pro-democracy hong kong worries about?

Also, talk about your free publicity - I wonder how much effect the ban really has on the creators - there must be a bootleg way people in the PRC can get access to banned media, right? At least if Hong Kong really has greater media freedom the ban is great publicity.
posted by ianhattwick at 11:31 AM on April 13, 2014

As if to really drive the point home, "Land of Hope and Glory" plays in the background, at a time when some Hong Kongers rather earnestly want the British back...
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 1:49 PM on April 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

Great post. Thanks, filthy light thief.
posted by homunculus at 7:58 PM on April 13, 2014

I'm particularly curious about why they mention no more grey-market products - is that the kind of problem that pro-democracy hong kong worries about?

A more accurate translation for that line would be: "The majority of visitors are no longer mainland tourists and grey-market traders, but foreign tourists who are once again interested in Hong Kong."

"Grey-market traders" refers to mainlanders who go to HK to buy duty free luxury goods -- especially electronics (Apple products, cameras, etc) -- and smuggle them back to the mainland for sale.
posted by bradf at 8:52 PM on April 13, 2014

Wow - this was really interesting to see. There seems to be so much background information implied in the film - not just the date, but also the descriptions of how the city came back to life once the bulk of the population left.

Indeed, and that makes it a very interesting short film, as someone who didn't know about this until seeing this video. I didn't want to give away too much in the post heading, but this is quite clearly in reference to the future of Hong Kong in a number of ways.

In reading about the video, there's mention that some in HK are concerned about Chinese expats coming in to sway the future election on the governance of Hong Kong, but I couldn't find any good resources on that.
posted by filthy light thief at 6:59 AM on April 14, 2014

As if to really drive the point home, "Land of Hope and Glory" plays in the background, at a time when some Hong Kongers rather earnestly want the British back..

Seems like a few Hong Kongers have this weird fixation on the British, that does tend to be nostalgic in a curious way.

Was a talk by this famed-entrepreneur-turned-business-lecturer from Hong Kong where he said that all the countries with excellent service were all ex-British colonies. Which did not make sense at all, given the appalling service you generally get in Singaporean and Malaysian (among other places) shops.
posted by the cydonian at 8:06 AM on April 14, 2014

For young women in China, slash fanfiction is a dangerous hobby
posted by homunculus at 1:30 PM on April 21, 2014