The Hong Konger – Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art

U-jazdowski Cinema and the Sinopsis research group invite you to a special screening of the documentary The Hong Konger, directed by Ron Holwerda. The film focuses on the figure of political activist Jimmy Lai. We will talk about the importance of Hong Kong peoples’ fight for freedom and the preservation of their own identity during a discussion with invited experts.

The Hong Konger tells the story of political activist Jimmy Lai, who left mainland China during the Maoist revolution and fled to Hong Kong. However, the aggressive policy of the Chinese government made him engage in political activism on behalf of all Hong Kong people. He founded the pro-democratic tabloid Apple Daily, which became one of the most widely read newspapers in Hong Kong. Today, Jimmy Lai is in a Chinese prison.

The film is a moving portrayal of not only the extraordinary story of an activist, but also the identity formation process of the Hong Kongese, shaped by a series of dramatic and tragic events.

After the screening, we invite you to a discussion with the following guests:

Samuel Chu – social activist, founder of The Campaign for Hong Kong, a US-based NGO whose mission is to promote policies that foster respect for human rights and the development of democracy in Hong Kong, security policy analyst;

Martin Svárovský – Advisor of the Deputy Speaker and the Chairperson of the Committee on European Affairs, previously worked for 19 years at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Deputy Director of the Department for Central Europe, Deputy Director of the Foreign Policy Analyses and Planning Department, Deputy Head of Mission at the Czech Embassy in Warsaw and Budapest, Advisor to the Chairperson of the Committee on European Affairs of the Czech Parliament;

Kateřina Procházková – analyst of the Sinopsis research group, a project implemented by the non-profit association AcaMedia z.ú., in scholarly collaboration with the Department of Sinology at Charles University in Prague; previously worked as editor of the foreign newsroom of Czech Television and correspondent of Czech Radio in Asia; she lived in Asia for nearly 10 years (in Hong Kong, Taipei and Beijing); she is a member of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club and the Beijing International Society.