Source:
https://scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/2050780/hong-kong-activist-joshua-wong-documentary-premiere-2017-sundance Film & TV
Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong documentary to premiere at 2017 Sundance film festival
Hong Kong student activist Wong played a prominent role in the Umbrella demonstrations, and Joe Piscatella’s film about him will debut at the festival
Joshua Wong talks to reporters outside the government headquarters office in Hong Kong in 2014. Photo: Reuters
A documentary film charting the rise of student activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung will receive its world premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, the independent film festival announced this week.
Titled Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower, the film directed by Joe Piscatella is unveiled as part of the World Cinema Documentary Competition, which includes 12 documentaries by filmmakers from around the world.
On the festival website, the film is described as follows: “When the Chinese Communist Party backtracks on its promise of autonomy to Hong Kong, teenager Joshua Wong decides to save his city. Rallying thousands of kids to skip school and occupy the streets, Joshua becomes an unlikely leader in Hong Kong and one of China’s most notorious dissidents.”
Wong was previously also the subject of a 2014 documentary titled Lessons in Dissent, which screened in Hong Kong cinemas in mid-2014.
Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower is part of a Sundance programme that is notable for its headline-worthy titles. Included among the 16 films in the U.S. Documentary Competition section are four films that examine events related to the Black Lives Matter movement, such as the uprising of Ferguson, Missouri.
The festival, which runs from January 19 to 29 in Park City, Utah, will announce its full line-up in the coming week.