Audiences sing, sob, chant as Hong Kong ‘Revolution’ film is a sold-out success in protest stronghold Vancouver
- ‘Revolution of Our Times’ has been playing to packed cinemas, reflecting Vancouver’s status as a proxy arena for Hong Kong’s protest movement
- 3,000 tickets for 14 screenings for Kiwi Chow’s award-winning documentary about the 2019 upheaval sold out online in about one hour, organisers say
Sobbing, singing and standing ovations are not typical responses in a Vancouver cinema, much less for a 152-minute documentary.
But Revolution of Our Times, director Kiwi Chow Kwun-wai’s visceral account of Hong Kong’s 2019 upheaval, is being received like no typical movie in a Canadian city that has served as a proxy arena for conflict between supporters and opponents of the protest movement that encompassed broadly democratic and anti-government goals.
All 3,000 tickets for 14 Vancouver screenings in two cinemas, running from February 11 until March 13, were sold out almost immediately, organisers say.
Attendees said emotional scenes on screen were reflected among audiences; some wept throughout, others chanted the protest slogan “Hong Kong, add oil”, and at the end many stood and sang the unofficial protest anthem Glory to Hong Kong.
The reception suggests how the protest movement – largely suppressed in Hong Kong since the 2020 introduction of a national security law (NSL) that critics say has diminished freedoms in the city – has found a bolt-hole in Vancouver. The city has more than 70,000 Hong Kong-born residents, at the highest density anywhere in Canada
All 620 tickets at four initial screenings under pandemic capacity limits were sold online in three minutes, according to organisers; 10 more full-capacity screenings were later added but sold out in just one hour.
