{"id":3182,"date":"2012-04-17T12:07:04","date_gmt":"2012-04-17T04:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=3182"},"modified":"2022-11-17T17:19:10","modified_gmt":"2022-11-17T09:19:10","slug":"tammy-cheung-documented","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2012\/04\/tammy-cheung-documented\/","title":{"rendered":"Tammy Cheung Documented"},"content":{"rendered":"

Varsity peeks into the life of homegrown independent director.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reporter: Nectar Gan<\/strong><\/p>\n

The office is small and cramped. Several tables are stuffed into the space and the shelves overflow with books. Amidst the jumble of paper and books, Tammy Cheung Hung discusses details of an overseas collaboration with her colleagues.<\/p>\n

Cheung is one of the leading figures in Hong Kong\u2019s independent documentary circle. She has directed nine documentaries to date and founded Visible Record Limited<\/a>, which specialises in the distribution and promotion of documentaries.<\/p>\n

Cheung\u2019s documentaries touch on various social issues in Hong Kong, such as education and the elderly. Her first documentary, 1999\u2019s Invisible Women<\/em> follows the lives of three ethnic Indian women in Hong Kong. In the film, Cheung explores gender inequalities and looks at the lives of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

Invisible Women <\/em>announced Cheung\u2019s arrival as a local documentary-maker but she only decided to focus on a full-time filmmaking career in 2002, three years after her debut.<\/p>\n

Born in Shanghai and brought up in Hong Kong, Cheung had never thought of being a filmmaker. Her childhood aspiration was to be a social worker, but she gave up on the idea because she thought it would be too tough a job to handle.<\/p>\n

She has had a varied work life as a prison guard, teacher and a translator for a bank before finally settling down as a full-time documentary filmmaker in Hong Kong. Of her decision to become a filmmaker, she says: \u201cMy attitude back then was just to have fun and try it out first.\u201d She was not too worried about failure. \u201cIt didn\u2019t matter because I could always go back to my old job [in a bank].\u201d<\/p>\n

Cheung\u2019s twin passions are film and social affairs. The latter drove her to study sociology at Hong Kong Shue Yan College (now University), while the former led her to study film in Canada.<\/p>\n

The love of film was kindled before Cheung left for Canada. She chanced upon Japanese director Nagisa Oshima\u2019s film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence<\/em> starring David Bowie and was blown away by it. It dawned on her how powerful visual communication was and how underlying problems in society could be highlighted through film. She hoped to one day inspire people, the way the film had inspired her.
\n
\nDespite this, Cheung says she ended up studying film by accident. She had initially planned to study communications in Central Canada, with the thought of becoming a journalist. But she relocated to Montreal after celebrating Christmas with a friend there. In Montreal, she studied English literature for a semester before switching to film studies at the University of Concordia, because her friends \u201cseemed to be having fun\u201d at Concordia\u2019s film school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf not for my 10 years\u2019 stay [in Canada], I wouldn\u2019t be making documentaries now,\u201d Cheung says.<\/p>\n

After a year at film school, Cheung dropped out for six years before going back to complete her studies. During this time she was active in the Chinese community and began organising film festivals for Chinese communities in Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking, why not play some movies in conjunction with the Lunar New Year?\u201d Her first film festival was so successful it planted the idea that she should produce her own films, in which she could tell her own stories.<\/p>\n

Although she has been a filmmaker for more than 10 years and is composed and organised when it comes to producing documentaries, Cheung still gets very nervous when it comes to the moment of screening.<\/p>\n

The audience response means a lot to her and she makes it a point to be present for her documentary screenings to observe how they react. \u201cI enjoy seeing the way audiences react to my films, it is very satisfying,\u201d says Cheung. \u201cI feel that I am not making [documentaries] for nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is the resonance with the audience that encourages her to persist in her work and overcome obstacles and difficulties, such as tight budgets and the lack of manpower.<\/p>\n

Funding is always a problem. The money she makes from screening and distributing her documentaries is insufficient to cover the costs of production. There are limited venues in Hong Kong for public movie screenings, especially ones that can cater to a wide audience.<\/p>\n

Cheung says she is heavily in debt and has nearly exhausted her savings. Distribution to educational institutions and companies is one of her company\u2019s main sources of income.<\/p>\n

Worse, she says the business environment for documentaries is deteriorating. \u201cHong Kong puts no emphasis on the arts. Nowadays, it is becoming more evident and serious,\u201d says Cheung. \u201cSociety is becoming more and more utilitarian, [and there is] less and less freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no way out. We were born at the wrong time,\u201d she says helplessly, before bursting into laughter. \u201cOr you can also turn it around and say we are born at the right moment, since there are so many topics to choose from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cheung has her own views about current issues in Hong Kong. Welfare for the elderly, preservation of traditional Chinese culture, and gender equality are themes frequently addressed in her films.<\/p>\n

Rice Distribution<\/em> (2003), a 35-minute documentary about the elderly collecting bags of rice from Taoist charity organisations during the Hungry Ghost Festival, was awarded the Grand Prize in the eighth Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Awards in 2003.
\nVideo taken from Visible Records<\/em><\/p>\n

Cheung clearly feels compassion for those at the margins of society and tries her best to highlight social problems. Yet, she understands it is never an easy job to influence the mindsets of others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a goal that can simply be achieved by one or two documentaries,\u201d Cheung notes. For example, Moving<\/em>, one of her personal favourites, which portrays the difficult lives led by the elderly in Hong Kong, received a mixed response.<\/p>\n

\u201cI liked Moving<\/em> a lot, but I know it is hard to find an audience, because it [the film] is about old people. Hong Kong people do not care much about the old,\u201d she explains. \u201cBut I like the documentary\u2019s subjects, and I like the bleak atmosphere \u2013 that sad and resigned feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some critics, however, the problem is not the bleakness of the situations in the film, but what they see as Cheung\u2019s inability to penetrate the surface and provide deeper insight or context.<\/p>\n

Cheung\u2019s style is influenced by the 1960s American style of documentary-making known as Direct Cinema. She eschews narratives, background music and interviews, preferring to use only the original footage, directly captured and truthfully presented.<\/p>\n

However, Cheung does not believe her documentaries are totally objective. \u201cThere are my opinions [in them], because they have gone through my editing process,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Cheung\u2019s style of fly-on-the-wall documentary filmmaking requires shooting hours of footage and more hours spent on editing the raw material.<\/p>\n

Years of exhaustion and hard work are slowly taking their toll on Cheung. She used to take pride in maintaining a groomed appearance but she no longer bothers with make-up or dressing up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all turning old. To be honest, I am already 50 years old. I can get the elderly card soon myself,\u201d she says calmly. Aging does not worry her much.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Canada, I was known for dressing well,\u201d says Cheung. \u201cI used to love shopping for pretty but cheap clothes, and I was proud of that.\u201d This gradually changed after she started making documentaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to look plain during shooting. Because you do not go there to attract attention, in fact you hope you can blend into the crowd,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

Cheung describes the change as \u201cfrom being seen by others to seeing others\u201d. No longer worried about how other people see her, she feels a lot more confident and at ease with herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think [the confidence comes from] becoming a complete person. Because as a complete person, you need not rely on looks,\u201d says Cheung. \u201cI personally think that to be confident is to let people appreciate me not for my appearance, but for the hidden things inside me, like my thoughts. This is concrete. It won\u2019t change with your age, time or fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cheung is currently working on a short film that focuses on love and relationships, a topic she has long wanted to get her teeth into. Unlike movies about love that typically revolve around romance, her documentary focuses instead on power relations and problems within relationships and between the genders.<\/p>\n

What Cheung enjoys the most about making documentaries is the joy of creation. She compares the process to cooking. \u201cYou have a stack of ingredients, and you need to mix them together in a bowl and make them tasty,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Cheung treats every film she works on as a journey of learning. She says that each time she makes a film, she is able to \u201cbetter understand an issue deeply. You can learn a lot from it, you will see the things that you never usually pay attention to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

She has exhausted her savings and has long given up the pretty clothes and make-up she used to wear on a regular basis. Tammy Cheung Hung tells Varsity how the documentary-maker’s life has transformed her “from being seen by others to seeing others.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1987,79],"tags":[133],"class_list":["post-3182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-124","category-people","tag-film"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3182"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3571,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3182\/revisions\/3571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}