Too much has already been said on Hong Kong's reunification with China. To the public, it is neither the doomsday that some politicians predict nor a cause for celebration, as others advocate. For the directors of the four Hong Kong Incarnated: Hong Kong in Transition films, life will just go on after July 1 - and so will the struggles and fears accompanied with it. The four documentary films are aimed at personalising the handover through the eyes of an individual or a group of individuals. Amidst the Tide records the last-minute struggle between the Wong family in Fu Tei Chung Tsuen estate and the government officials sent to demolish their home. The 15-minute film captures some passionate shots such as the sobs of Mrs Wong and the yelling of the housing officials. The rudeness of the officials and the helplessness of the Wong family highlight the conflict between bureaucrats and the public, the powerful and the powerless. In Little Fukien, the camera follows director Cheung Chit-cheung to the Fujianese neighbourhood where he spent his childhood. As a Fujianese immigrant himself, the film recounts the lives of Cheung and records the faces of those who have been living at North Point's Chun Yeung Street for most of their lives. Celebration in the Time of Bitter Songs 97 and Getting Personal are two experimental vignettes of continuous fighting: for women's rights and personal space respectively. In the midst of the handover fanfare, the films have compiled some alternative personal views of history. There are recollections and reflections, observation and criticism, but rendered less powerful than they could have been by amateur filming techniques. In Little Fukien, for example, Cheung has tried to recall his memories of the Fujian community in North Point but spends too much time talking in front of the camera. As a result, the short fails to capture the essence of the Fujianese community, which is almost another world in Hong Kong. Other films tend to be too experimental. Far from making sense out of this nonsensical moment, they have portrayed far too abstract a picture of transitional Hong Kong. May Fung, director of Getting Personal, admits the film intends to create 'a feeling of ambiguity, a more metaphysical mood'. Getting Personal keeps oscillating between an artist named Sze Yuen (the film never mentions anything about her background) working on her painting about an old shoe-mending lady, and a Singaporean artist, Ong Keng Seng, in New York (again, nothing is said about him) who explains what art means to him. A minute later, the screen jumps to the June 4 candle-lit vigil at Victoria Park, then an MTR advertisement about the handover. The result is a collage of disjointed ideas which the audience may find difficult to follow. 'It is about space,' said Fung, 'between Sze Yuen and I, and between her work and my work. 'Each of us has our own space. 'Sometimes, we might unintentionally intrude into other people's space. 'That's the case between China and Hong Kong.' Despite the technical flaws, the films have given a chance for those who never have access to the mainstream media to voice their views. Their concept and enthusiasm deserve admiration. Hong Kong Incarnated: Hong Kong in Transition, tomorrow, Arts Centre, $50
