Film Screening: Love in the Time of Revolution — Uplink Kichijoji & Kyoto
- Project
- EVT-001
- Location
- Uplink Kichijoji, Tokyo / Uplink Kyoto, Japan
- Date
- 30 August – 8 September 2024
Love in the Time of Revolution (因為愛所以革命 / 香港、裏切られた約束) is a documentary filmed on the streets of Hong Kong during the 2019 protests — capturing the lives of six strangers who went to the streets for what they believed in: a former gang member, a South Asian youth, a civics teacher, a couple, and a frontliner. Two million people marched. The film follows them through hope and despair, love and heartbreak, as they fight for their city.
On 30 August 2024, the film opened its first-ever commercial theatrical run at Uplink Kichijoji in Tokyo. The newest version of the film included previously unreleased footage of Hong Kong exiles speaking at the House of Representatives Members' Office Building in Tokyo in June 2024. Director Twinkle Ngan — now residing in the United Kingdom as a refugee — travelled to Japan for the opening and held post-screening talks every evening for ten consecutive nights.
The Lady Liberty Hong Kong statue stood in the Uplink Kichijoji lobby throughout the run.
Guest speakers at post-screening talks included:
30 August — Mutai Shunsuke, House of Representatives member: "China's authoritarian system has now become a clear threat to the world."
31 August — Kanno Shiori, lawyer: "I want activists to genuinely be able to live safely in Japan and maintain their activities."
2 September — Ako Tomoko, Professor at the University of Tokyo: "I think our freedoms are being taken away one by one — and yet why are we staying silent?"
All screenings in the first week sold out. Additional dates were added at Uplink Kichijoji from 6 to 8 September. The Kyoto run opened at Uplink Kyoto on 6 September, with further guest speakers: Professor Komagome Takeshi of Kyoto University (6 September), modern Chinese literature scholar Liu Yanzi (7 September), and commentator Sekihei (8 September).