In 2019, Hong Kong was rocked by clashes between government police forces and pro-democracy citizens. Faceless is an intimate and raw film about four anonymous young protesters in Hong Kong. They have begun fighting to protect their way of life and personal freedom from Goliath, authoritarian China.
Hong Kong has always been unique. It is both a Chinese city and a “special administrative region” of China. It was a British colony from 1841 until Hong Kong’s surrender in 1997, when the British returned Hong Kong to the Chinese. The Chinese government has promised that for the next 50 years (2047), Hong Kong will remain an autonomous region with little influence from China. It has a different ideology, more personal freedom, its own currency, its own passport, and its own legal system.
Hong Kong has been one of the eight largest financial centers in the world alongside Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Zurich, London and New York City. It is one of the most luxurious, urbanized and developed cities in the world. It’s also home to the most billionaires living in any city, and despite having one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, there is a huge fiscal gap between rich and poor.
However, in the more than 22 years since its handover, China has slowly forgotten its promise to make Hong Kong autonomous until 2047, sparking civil unrest and protests from Hong Kong citizens, especially young people. For example, the 2014 Umbrella Movement was a series of protests against China’s decision to reform Hong Kong’s electoral system, demanding that Beijing pre-screen any candidate for Hong Kong’s chief executive.
Beijing then passed a new national security law for Hong Kong that includes an extradition law that threatens to send Hong Kongers to mainland China for actions allowed under the handover agreement. Four of our protesters are getting ready, each wearing their max mask, which seems normal in today’s post-COVID world. But in 2019, they donned these masks, helmets, shin guards and arm guards to protect themselves from detection by authorities, tear gas, and as armor against police brutality.
Every faceless protester is telling their story. Cameras follow them into the protests and the resulting chaos, danger, and frenzy, documenting their struggle for democracy so everyone can see what they’re dealing with. They are only called artists, believers, daughters and students. Everyone has different backgrounds and personalities, but they have a common belief: they will never bow to the authoritarian government, and will not let their rights and freedoms be trampled by China.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong is at war between its continued peaceful way of life in true democratic freedoms and a China that craves ravages.
