►少數族裔與影像的力量| YMCA x ifva 影像無國界．映後對談 文字足本版 The Power of Ethnic Minorities and Images ．YMCA x ifva All About Us．Online Screening X Sharing
節錄一Part I：少數族裔青年的無限創意 The creativity of the EM youths《I am Owais》《Don’t Just Dream Do!》《Where are you? 》
► 重溫節目 PROGRAMME ARCHIVE: https://www.facebook.com/FBISRB/videos/3433649020085006/
作品簡介：
《I’m Owais》以劇情和紀錄的手法，跟蹤巴基斯坦高中生Owais看似平凡的一天，但也同時發生了許多事情。從中可見Owais是個很有自信，對自己宗教有堅持的中學生。Owais像是導遊，穿梭不同的生活空間，帶我們去看看他平常做得事、去的地方等等。
《Don’t just dream, do》講述兩兄弟各自的夢想，一個喜歡唱歌，一個喜歡飛躍道(Pakour)。他們追求夢想的經驗很有趣。作品最吸引人的是兩位演員的演出，非常有活力。而且當中的實景拍攝也很精彩，他們倆在城市裏穿梭，與空間的關係很微妙。
《Where Are You》講述兩個好朋友之間，淒慘的愛情故事。男主角因為缺乏自信而無法表現愛意。機會轉眼就過，可不踏出第一步？這就可能會成功。
► 對談內容：
盛虹：看完放映之後我們現在進入影後談的環節。歡迎各位嘉賓，我身邊的是埼埼，她曾在平地映社負責策展，亦邀請到旁邊的青年導演Harry，是《Where Are You》的其中一位導演。旁邊就是影像無國界的導師林森。最後就是社工Kelvin，他曾做過許多的共融服務。今天的影後談我們想探討剛才放映的影片。我們一於由Harry開始吧，你曾經參與影像無國界影像無國界的營會，認識到一班導師和組員，而林森是營會的導師，你們可以以分享一下營會的趣事，而Harry當初為何會參加營會呢？
Harry: 中四的時候，學校介紹這計劃給我，當時我覺得很有趣，因為人生從未試過拍片，而作為少數族裔學生以往機會比較少，所以與朋友相約一起參與這個計劃。在營會裏我非常愉快，我能認識到同校和其他學校的朋友，和一班藝術家，我很開心。
盛虹：林森可以分享一下作為導師五、六年來的經驗嗎？
林森：讓我們談談整個計劃的流程吧，一般我們會在九月或十月舉行第一個營會，我們會為參與的同學舉行一些基礎拍攝技巧的工作坊，同時讓參與者有機會互相認識，完成第一個營會之後，參與者有大概六個星期，在學校或社區裏一起計劃和完成拍攝。第二個營會大約在十二月時舉行，當中會有一些進階的工作坊和影片放映。大約就是這樣。作為導師有趣的是，我可以接觸到少數族裔的年輕人，更重要的是，導師同樣會長時間留在營地，由早到晚可能在吃早餐的時候已經與年輕人建立關係。我們亦會一起燒烤或參與各種活動。甚至有些朋在深夜不願入睡時，會彈結他和唱歌。有些人亦喜歡打板球打籃球做運動。這好像模糊了我們藝術家導師和學員之間的界線，我們有機會在營會裏可以平等地了解和接觸彼此的生活。這十分有趣。
盛虹：Harry你剛才提到你以前拍攝很少接觸影像概念，可否可分享一下你初初接觸影像時有什麼感受？而你在營中如何與隊員想到《Where Are You》的創作概念？
Harry: 第一印象就是很專業。以前在學校拍片時通常會用電話拍攝，或者用一些很基本的拍攝工具。但參與計劃後，導師教我如何運鏡和剪接，非常專業。至於如何得出”where are you”的創作概念，當時情況很有趣，隊員中有兩人都想做演員，他們倆都是男性，我們就以二人作為創作概念，想到拍攝一條愛情短片。
盛虹：我在網上讀到你們導師的文章，指你們本來沒打算拍愛情題材，真有其事？為何有這種轉折？
Harry：我們本身想拍鬼片的。我們請了一位同學當演員，他演技不錯，很懂表達情緒。但我們有兩位的男成員也想參與其中，所以最後改了方向拍愛情題材。也算是事出突然，改變原先計劃。都是純粹… 決定當晚，我在外面吃米線，其他隊員在家，我打電話過去問：「你是不是想做演員？那我們做一個愛情故事吧，你就當演員！」
盛虹：好。剛才大家都看了各部作品，就有《Where Are You》開始討論，大家對這部作品有甚麼看法？又有甚麼有趣的地方呢？
埼埼：我覺得驚喜的是，作品的攝影和調度是頗有想法的，則是克制的。許多時候剛接觸拍攝的人容易受流行文化或「即食」的影像影響，所以經常會用大量的罐頭音樂，或者是直接的拍攝角度。”Where are you”驚喜的是，運用音樂運用得比較克制，鏡頭取景非常有想法，能看到這種拍攝手法是有某種的目的和原因。我覺得這是”where are you”的珍貴之處。當我看到它有一個很明確的意圖或想法，我反而更容易去投入它的感情等等。
盛虹：Kelvin或林森有什麼看法？
林森：我覺得題材上十分新鮮，將鬼片恐怖片的題材混合了同性的愛情，尤其是在年輕人這年齡層，一般在本地或年輕人，這種題材是一種禁忌。但我覺得《Where Are You》並不是大膽，而是很自然地去探討這題材，不會消費這議題。觀看影片時，會很純粹地進入兩個角色之間的感情，能夠投入當中。這是難得一見。
Kelvin：我這方面不是專業，但我看到拍攝鬼怪情節時，它會運用鏡頭或特別的特效去指出例如演員的臉畫花了，或是有支筆掉下來，我覺得這些是很純粹、很純真的表現。我們人大了可能會花心思去想用特效或剪接、器材畫面要怎樣配合。但它的特效或效果很純粹，很青春。
Harry：其實拍攝的材料是即場找出來的。例如燈光方面，我用了一個透明文件夾作為濾鏡，再用閃光燈做成很像蠟燭的效果。我們都是使用周圍的物品來做效果。是的。
盛虹：主題曲也是自己作曲的嗎？
Harry：是，自己作的。我們其中一位隊員有些音樂天份，所以他作了首原創曲。那應該是以前的歌，他早就開始作那首歌了，但後來才繼續作成一首完整的歌。
盛虹：那你們拍攝時有沒有甚麼趣事？你們的成員都是男生嗎？
Harry：不是
盛虹：噢，不是全男生，有女生的
Harry：有兩個女生的
盛虹：兩個女生，四個男生？
Harry：一、二、三、四…五個
盛虹：五個男生，兩個女生，五個男生，七個人一隊？那你們拍攝時有沒有甚麼趣事？
Harry：趣事…一開始我也不知道，兩個男主角的其中一位有這種情愫的。我們拍攝完畢，放映當天他哭了，因為他身同感受，他曾喜歡一個人，但那人無法回應，他也無法表達他的感情，最後那人與別人交往，所以他蠻後悔的。他哭了是因為他有不同的角度去看作品。
盛虹：其他同學看完成品以後有甚麼感受？終於完成了
Harry：因為我不重視結果的，而是看整個過程的，整個過程都很開心，我們不是目標為本地工作。例如拍攝遇上阻滯時就玩「狼人」，我們都喜歡「狼人」（哈哈，找找靈感，放鬆一下）是啊，拍攝時有一點空閒都要玩「狼人」，每次見面玩都玩「狼人」，都不是工作至上。
盛虹：所以你也很享受整個製作過程？
Harry：是的，我都認識了許多人，例如藝術家導師阿勺介紹了許多朋友，她有一齣電影，她自己的工作上，邀請我當演員，我都願意幫忙。整個過程都挺好的，認識到很多人。
盛虹：那我們談一下另外兩個作品，《I’m Owais》和《Don’t just dream, do》，我們剛才已經看過了，其實它們都有相似的地方，它們都反映了一些內心故事，不論是他們的夢想或是情感。你們有沒有分別觀察到些甚麼？埼埼也曾做過學生電影的策展，你可以說比較一下這些作品，說一下他們的獨特之處？
埼埼：我覺得這計劃的性質挺特別，以我認知，中學生拍攝要麼是校園電視台，或者是工業化的訓練。這計劃的特別之處是，你要表達自己，電影或影像只是個輔助的媒介，而不是你要入行或是做大電影才參加這個計劃，而是要透過影像作為媒介去講自己的故事。就是因為這計劃的性質與眾不同，所以它會影響到學生的成品。我印象最深刻的作品是《Don’t just dream, do》，兩位演員很會表達情感，我很享受他們的演技，雖然看似有點誇張，但他們的能量很突出，他們的性格很突出，所以是很立體的。當中有些比較誇張的戲劇元素，這可能與藝術家導師有關，這三個作品有三位不同的導師去輔助學生拍攝，可能導師本身藝術的長處不同，引領學生不同的特色出現。我覺得《Don’t just dream, do》演員的演技很耀眼。
Kelvin：《I’m Owais》也是很豐富的作品，它的類型很不同，是半記錄的形式，好像跟隨了主角一天，這類紀錄或非敘事的創作形式，不論在少數族裔、學生或整個電影發展，都是種小眾的目光，作品在這裏出現是很珍貴的嘗試。紀錄的元素是《I’m Owais》的特別之處。
盛虹：你們呢？
林森：兩套作品共同的地方，對比其他本地年輕人的作品，兩套作品都很有活力，或是說他們都比較跳脫。他們的分別在於，兩套作品都是由他們的角度去講自己的故事，這與一般的既有印象和我們作為本地人理解少數族裔的出發點很不同。例如《I’m Owais》裏的主角十分有自信，許多時候都很有自信，他在城市裏的生活與我們的印象是有些分別。可能我們會表面地覺得他們日常生活經常會受到歧視，生活會遇上許多困難。雖然他們現實生活中或許有些困難，但他們更在乎怎樣在這地方自在地生活，選擇自己喜歡的東西，再追求自己的夢想例如是運動，這與我們本地人的視角很不一樣。
Kelvin：非常同意。看過這麼多部作品，我非常喜歡《I’m Owais》，上兩年都與ifva辦放映會，正如林森導演所說，社會大眾對少數族裔，特別是巴基斯坦人或南亞裔人士，抱有些想法或偏見，大眾有些既有的想法，許多作品、電影、電視劇都是有華人或「香港人」所寫的，例如他們會以既有的想法去定義南亞裔。他們會怎樣出現在螢幕上呢？可能是黑社會，可能是懲教職員，又例如喬寶寶會只做喜劇。某程度上這代表香港人對少數族裔朋友的看法，《I’m Owais》特別之處在於，它整部作品都很平淡，除了打棒球激動的情節，其他上學、買菜、去清真寺看似很平淡，但他藉著這機會說「我是個在香港的巴基斯坦人，這就是我的生活。」「我喜歡甚麼？我喜歡打板球」「我對我的信仰、宗教生活有堅持」這種表達方式令我們「香港人」從另外一個角度看待少數族裔的朋友，作品以巴基斯坦裔的年輕人的角度去告訴我們他們的生活是怎樣的。作品精彩在於它整體的形式，它邀請了少數族裔的年輕人去拍攝，以影像去說自己的故事。這很重要，也提醒了某些香港人，提醒了我自己，這非常的寶貴。
林森：更難得的是《I’m Owais》用了少數族裔的語言（方言）去講故事，這很罕見。一般我們覺得為了大眾要用主流的語言，就算不是廣東話也要是英文，但它很自信地用了代表它身份的語言。這是個很有力度的製作。
盛虹：這些作品珍貴之處在於給同學一個機會去說「少數族裔」這個標籤。對，「少數族裔」是個標籤。給了他們一個機會去呈現他們想說的事，他們的生活也好，他們的想法也好。這個機會很好。正如Kelvin所說，容讓我們去反思，去發現他們並不像我們所想的，讓我們的想像更豐富。我覺得這是其中一個方法…例如有些時候少數族裔朋友會提及到本地人對他們有點兇，或不太友善，是這樣嗎？對，有時聽到這種故事，當然不是很普遍。但我們可以透過這些媒介，多點溝通，多點理解，希望可以減少這種情況。
— 更多內容請參閱 《映後對談 文字足本版 節錄二》—
Work Description:
“I’m Owais” follows Owais, a Pakistani student for a day in the form of a documentary. It’s ordinary yet extraordinary. Owais is confident and very faithful in his religion. He is like a tour guide and brings to you traveling through different spaces. We can peek at what he does and where he goes every day.
“Don’t Just Dream, Do” tells the stories of two brothers. One loves singing, one loves parkour. Their way to pursue their dreams is so interesting. The actors’ acting was remarkably energetic. The scene was gorgeous too. When they run through the city, it’s so amazing to see how the idea of space is handled.
“Where Are You” is about the tragedy of love between two friends. One couldn’t express his feelings to the opponent because of his lack of confidence. But, like in daily life, you face a lot of chances, so why not just try first. It’s the first step to success.
Post-screening discussion:
Hung: It’s time for the post-screening discussion. Welcome everyone. This is Kiki besides me. She’s the curator of Ground up Film Society. This is Harry, one of the directors of “Where Are You”. Next we have Lam Sum, a teaching artist of “All About Us”. Finally we have Kelvin who is a social worker specialising in inclusion services. We’ll talk about the films in screening today. Let’s start with Harry. You were in the “All About Us” training camp and you met a group of artists and students. And Sum was one of the mentors. Can you talk about the fun things therein? What made you join the programme, Harry?
Harry: I knew about it from school when I was in F.4. I found it quite fun ‘cause I never made a film before, especially as an ethnic minority student who has fewer opportunities. So I applied for it with a few friends. I had a lot of fun there. I met friends from different schools and a group of artists. I was happy.
Hung: Sum, can you tell us about the experience of being a teaching artist for almost 6 years?
Sum: Let’s start with the structure of the programme. We have the 1st training camp in September or October. The students will have introductory workshops about filming. That’s a chance for them to get to know each other. After the camp, the students will have about 6 weeks for the film production inside their schools or the community. The 2nd camp in December consists of advanced workshops and screenings. That’s it. The fun thing about being a teaching artist is getting to know ethnic minority youths. More importantly, we stayed inside the camp most of the time. From day to night, we developed bondings with the students. We played a lot of games together, and we barbecued together. Some of them played the guitar and sang when they didn’t want to sleep at night. Some loved sports like cricket and basketball. That took away the boundary between the students and us as the mentors. We could equally get to know about each other’s lives. It was fun.
Hung: Harry you mentioned you barely heard of visual media before. Please tell us how you feel when you get to know it, and how your team came up with the idea for “Where Are You”.
Harry: My first word was “professionalism”. I only used mobile phones to film in the past, or some other basic filming tools. In the programme, we were taught about camera movements and editing. It was professional. And it was fun when we were thinking of the idea for “Where Are You”. Two of my teammates wanted to act. They’re both boys. Based on their characters, we came up with a romance short film.
Hung: I learnt from your mentor that romance wasn’t the idea initially. Was that true? Why the change?
Harry: We wanted to do a horror film at first. We invited a classmate to be the actor. He was great and very expressive. But two of us really wanted to be in it. So we changed to romance eventually. It was a quite sudden move changing the original plan. It was simply… when we made the decision, I was eating noodles outside and the others were at home. I called them and asked, “You wanna be the actor, don’t you? Then let’s do romance! You’re the actor!”
Hung：So we all watched the screening. Shall we start with “Where Are You”? What do you think?
Kiki：I was very surprised by the arrangement and storytelling. It was quite thought-through and somehow reserved. In general, young filmmakers are influenced by pop culture or ready-to-use images, and use loads of canned sound effects with very direct camera angles. “Where Are You” surprised me with a reserved use of sound effects and calculated angles. They were designed for a purpose. That is why “Where Are You” is precious. When I got the reason behind the arrangement, I could be easily absorbed into its emotions.
Hung：What do you think, Kelvin and Sum?
Sum：The topic is very new. It combines horror and LGBT elements. Such a topic was a taboo among the local community and youths. “Where Are You” wasn’t bold to me, but it was gently exploring the topic instead of consuming it. When I was watching the film, I was absorbed into the pure affection between the two characters. That was rare.
Kelvin：Well, I am not an expert. I noticed different angles and special effects were used to capture or highlight things like the actors’ makeup or the movement of props. I think they were simply and pure. Usually we might use fancy effects or editing techniques. But the film’s effects were very pure and refreshing.
Harry：We spontaneously used materials for filming at the scene. For lighting, we used a transparent folder as filters and used flashlights to mock flickering candlelight. We used things from the surroundings.
Hung：Was the theme song original?
Harry：Yes, we wrote it. One of us has a music background and he wrote that song. He started for some while and completed it for the film.
Hung：Any fun things happened at the shooting scene? All of you were boys?
Harry：No
Hung：Oh, there were girls
Harry：Two girls
Hung：Two girls, four boys?
Harry：One, two, three, four…five
Hung：Five boys and two girls, seven in total. So any fun things happened at the scene?
Harry：Fun things…I didn’t know that one of the two actors actually are into boys. When the film was done, he cried at the screening. He crushed on a boy who couldn’t respond. He couldn’t express his feeling. Eventually his crush started dating someone else. He kind of regretted it. He cried because he had his own perspective to look at the film.
Hung：How did the others feel about seeing the video? It was finally done.
Harry：We didn’t value the result much, we looked more at the process instead. It was really fun. We weren’t task-oriented. When we had hiccups, we played board games. We loved board games (Haha, to brainstorm and relax) Yes, we plays board games even at breaks. We played every time we met. We weren’t task-oriented.
Hung：So you enjoyed the entire production?
Harry：Yes, I met a lot of people. Cheuk-man introduced lots of friends to me. She invited me to be a side-actor for her own project. I went to help out. It was nice and I met many new friends.
Hung：Let’s talk about the other two works, “I’m Owais” and “Don’t Just Dream, Do”. We’ve watched them and found they have things in common. They’re both telling some stories in their minds. They were about someone’s dreams and emotions. What did you observe? Kiki, you worked as a curator for student video screening. Can you compare these works and tell us what is special in them?
Kiki：The nature of the whole programme is remarkable. In general, students make videos for the campus radio or industrial training. “All About Us” asks the students to express themselves. Films and visual media are just an aid and a medium. They didn’t do it for the market or a broadbuster. They were telling their stories through visual media as the medium. The nature of the programme is so different and affects the outcome from the students. “Don’t Just Dream, Do” was very unforgettable. The two actors were very expressive. I enjoyed their acting so much. Though it looked a bit exaggerated, I love their over-the-top energy and personalities. It was very solid. The over-the-top drama elements might come from their mentor. Three different mentors were assigned to the groups. The expertises of the artists might lead to different qualities of the outcomes. I think the actors in “Don’t Just Dream, Do” really stood out.
Kelvin：“I’m Owais” is very rich in flavour too. The genre is different. It is a semi-documentary as if we follow the main character for a whole day. Such a non-storytelling documentary isn’t in the mainstream among ethnic minority students or even the industry. It was a very good attempt. That’s why the film is so special.
Hung：What about you guys?
Sum：Compared to the other works by local students, both of them are filled with energy. They are very creative. Their differences fall in how the students tell the stories from their point of view, which is very different from how locals see them as ethnic minorities. Owais in the video was very confident, very confident most of the time. His life in the city differed from our stereotypes. We might think they faced discrimination all the time, or other difficulties. Though they’re not sailing all way through, they focus on how they can live freely, how they pick up things they like, how they pursue their dreams like sports. That’s not the same from our perspectives as locals.
Kelvin：I totally agree. I love “I’m Owais” so much after the screening. We’ve collaborated with ifva for screening since 2018. As Sum mentioned, the public holds certain biases or stereotypes against ethnic minorities especially Pakistanis or South Asians. They perceive the minorities in some ways. Many TV shows or films in pop culture were produced by ethnic Chinese or “Hong Kongers”. They define ethnic minorities in some specific ways. How do they appear in pop culture? Perhaps they were triad members or CSD officers, or even comedians like Q Bobo. It represents how Hong Kongers perceive ethnic minorities. “I’m Owais” was so special with its calmness. Apart from Owais’s passion for baseball, everything else, for example, school life, grocery shopping and worships at mosque, was so ordinary. By all these, he declares, “This is my life. I’m a Pakistani who lives in Hong Kong.” “My passion? I love cricket.” “I have great faith in my religion.” This makes us look at ethnic minorities from a different perspective. The film offers an alternative from a Pakistani teenager’s point of view. It is amazing when ethnic minority students tell their own stories with creative media as a medium. That’s important. It’s a reminder for Hong Konger, also for myself. That needs to be recognised.
Sum：It’s also amazing when a Pakistani language (dialect) was used to tell the story. That’s very rare. Mainstream languages are usually preferred in the industry. It’s either Cantonese or English. But they used their mother tongue with pride. It’s really powerful.
Hung：These films are so good ‘cause the participants could discuss the label “ethnic minorities”. Yes, “ethnic minorities” is a label. Creative media allowed them to speak out loud about their lives or thoughts. It was a very good opportunity. Like what Kelvin said, their works made us reflect on the labels. Ethnic minorities aren’t like what we thought they were. The films enriched our mind and imagination. It can be a solution. For example, some of my ethnic minority friends expressed that locals sometimes were rude to them, not very friendly. Is that true? I heard of these occasionally, of course not very often. Perhaps we can avoid such things by communication and mutual understanding.
— To read more, please go to Part II —