A war of words fuelled by critics, critiques
The Arts Development Council has questions to answer over its handling of the Critic's Prize
A new war of words sparked by Hong Kong-mainland tensions was waged last week over a piece of writing. The first Arts Development Council Critic's Prize went to Jia Xuanning, a 24-year-old working for the pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po. She fought off competition from about 60 other entries, picking up the HK$50,000 prize for her piece on the film Vulgaria.
She won the hearts of the six-member judging panel with her criticism of Hong Kong director Pang Ho-cheung's blockbuster film Vulgaria from a "social perspective".
Outraged critics and netizens bombarded the ADC after the decision. Many demanded a "refund" of the HK$50,000, and others lamented that Jia's writing was political ideology, not a film critique.
Jia offers little discussion of the film itself.
Instead she slams the vulgarity in Vulgaria, criticising the film for appealing only to a local audience and describing it as an "irresponsible cultural product".
Hong Kong-mainland tensions derived from her interpretation of the film form the backbone of her piece: "The mainland can be the saviour for Hong Kong, but it can't win the hearts of Hongkongers. Hongkongers kowtow to the economic power of the mainland, but in their heads they wouldn't let go of their superiority [to mainlanders]...on the surface they oblige, but deep down they feel as if they were 'being raped'."