The Death Narratives of Revitalization: Colonial Governance, China, and the Reconfiguration of the Hong Kong Film Industry

Abstract

This essay examines the repercussions of colonial and postcolonial governance for the Hong Kong film industry. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork, I analyze Hong Kong film personnel's “death narratives” about their industry and argue that while many informants criticized China for the demise of the Hong Kong film industry, the source of the film industry's instability also lies in the territory's British colonial film policies and Hong Kong's postcolonial turn to the “global city.” I trace how the laissez-faire capitalism and positive non-interventionism policy of Hong Kong and its film industry that has been so deeply valorized has in fact contributed to its vulnerability. Demonstrating that film personnel of the former “Hollywood of the East” must increasingly cross borders to find work, the film industry's demise can also be understood as begetting revitalization through a free trade agreement with China that facilitates co-productions.