Written On the Wood: A Story on a Piece of Leased Land - Chi Kee Sawmill and Timber Documentary Making
Continuing with our collaboration with artist Justin Hui, we are currently developing the story structure for our documentary. This process is part of a documentary making course guided by Oscar-nominated film director Daniel Raim.
The story begins in the 1930s when China was undergoing dramatic social change amid civil war, and follows Wong Chi and his family’s life journey in Hong Kong to the present day in their Sawmill factory Chi Kee. The factory has gone through multiple waves of developments and changes as the sources and uses of wood changed in step with the history of Hong Kong. It's currently facing challenges (or opportunities) of future development in the Greater Bay Area.
The documentary project extends the implications of "wood" from its material perspectives to its social resonance by incorporating elements of history, geography, sociology, and humanity. It invokes deeper insights to the connection between wood and the narratives of Hong Kong and how the material connects our city with the rest of the world.
We welcome schools or universities to collaborate with us on this documentary. Opportunities to work together include Life-wide Learning (LWL), Other Learning Experience (OLE), Creative, Art, and Service (CAS), art weeks and art initiatives, internships, or service-learning etc. We invite creative young talents to join the research process for the documentary, to help us shoot footages, or to apply their animation or illustration skills to help develop the storyboard and scenes. We also invite young professionals in creative media who are interested in educational documentary making to join us as volunteers, interns, collaborators or advisors.
