Rather be Ashes Than Dust (2024)

If We Burn

Hundreds of thousands − perhaps even millions − of protestors have taken to the streets of Hong Kong since early June. Sparked initially by the government's plans for a controversial extradition bill, the movement has now transformed into a broader push for greater freedoms and democracy, with anger over police brutality fuelling a cycle of violence. The protests are Hong Kong's biggest challenge to Beijing since its return to China in 1997. If We Burn looks at the movement through the eyes of Hong Kongers whose fates, like their city's future, now hang in the balance.

Hong Kong Moments

As pro-democracy activists and armed police battle in the streets of Hong Kong, ordinary citizens are choosing sides. Historically an outlier of both western and Chinese power, Hong Kong wields its own economic force, affording the city and its people a spirit of independence that has now erupted into clouds of tear gas. Filmmaker Bing Zhou uses a nimble camera to follow a group of protagonists—two opposing political candidates, a tea shop owner, a cab driver, a police officer, a paramedic—on two separate days of conflict. On September 21, 2019, protestors from three districts join forces, resulting in unprecedented violence. Just 10 days later on October 1, the National Day of the People’s Republic of China, previously undecided onlookers show their stripes. Thoughts transform into action in this demonstration of how mercurial and personal Hong Kong’s politics have become.

Another Home

Cheung Chau, once a fishing village in Hong Kong, has transformed into a tourist spot. Ri-Tai, a food stall run by A-Cheung, reflects local life, absurdities, and societal realities. A-Cheung spends his days playing games with customers like Plumpy, forming bonds that transcend generations. However, the onset of COVID-19 disrupts this sense of community, leaving the island deserted and questioning whether Ri-Tai's simple way of life will vanish.

Do Not Split

The story of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, told through a series of demonstrations by local protestors that escalate into conflict when highly armed police appear on the scene.

Revolution of Our Times

Throughout Hong Kong’s history, Hongkongers have fought for freedom and democracy but have yet to succeed. In 2019, a controversial extradition bill was introduced that would allow Hongkongers to be tried in mainland China. This decision spurred massive protests, riots, and resistance against heavy-handed Chinese rule over the City-State. Award-winning director Kiwi Chow documents the events to tell the story of the movement, with both a macro view of its historical context and footage and interviews from protestors on the front lines.

Hong Kong Mixtape

Political engagement spawned the wildest of wonderlands for Hong Kong’s creativity – but as a new law annihilates freedom of expression overnight, underground artists and creatives find themselves targets, and their works disappeared. Together we race to preserve the creative uprising amid China’s crackdown.

Because I Choose Freedom

Matthew Leung Ming-hong had been working as a breaking-news reporter for six years in Hong Kong but recently emigrated to the United Kingdom because of concerns about growing restrictions on journalists working in the city. Three Hong Kong media outlets popular with the opposition have folded in just six months, following the introduction of a controversial national security law in Hong Kong on June 30, 2020, raising fears about the future of press freedom in the city. The 29-year-old is starting a new life in Britain’s northern city of Manchester and plans to eventually resume his journalism career in Europe.

Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower

When the Chinese Communist Party backtracks on its promise of autonomy to Hong Kong, teenager Joshua Wong decides to save his city. Rallying thousands of kids to skip school and occupy the streets, Joshua becomes an unlikely leader in Hong Kong and one of China’s most notorious dissidents.

Taking Back the Legislature

After a night of planning and mourning, a storm is brewing at early hours of 1 July, 2019. In face of the absurdity of the government's indoor flag ceremony, protesters question the usefulness of peaceful protest and hope to storm the Legislative Council Complex as a last-ditch effort to ignite change in the movement. As they confront pro-democracy councillors outside the complex, their pent-up anger and despair explode.

Blue Island

Although the Chinese government promised that Hong Kong would retain separate status until 2047, in recent years the Chinese state has consolidated its power over the metropolis. Large-scale protests by the populace have been brutally suppressed. This mix of documentary, fiction, and visions of the future reveals the current state of desolate depression among the people of Hong Kong. “A desperate attempt to capture the final moments of a sinking island”, as maker Chan Tze-woon himself puts it.

Inside the Red Brick Wall

In 2019, Hong Kong was swept by demonstrations against the controversial extradition bill. At the Polytechnic University, a group of students also takes a stand for freedom and democracy. Negotiations with the police are chaotic and aggressive, conducted via megaphones and politically charged music played over loudspeakers. The colorful umbrellas which the young people use to protect themselves against the brutal police actions emphasize the group’s bravado, which borders on recklessness. What begins as an energetic battle against the establishment turns into a lopsided game of cat and mouse when the police decide to surround the building. Within its red brick walls, the university building becomes a prison. Over the nearly two weeks that follow, as fear and exhaustion grow among the hundreds of students, so does the uncertainty. Should they hang on inside, or leave the building to face the armed police?

Hong Kong: Retrocession Generation

In 2017, twenty years after the British handed over Hong Kong to China in 1997, young people, more politicized than any previous generation and proud of their land, do not feel Chinese and actively fight against the oligarchs who want to subdue them to China's authoritarian power.

Fear(less) and Dear

Hongkongers have been experiencing extremely difficult times due to the political movement caused by anti-Extradition Bill since the summer of 2019 followed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This film explores Hongkongers’ fear in various dimensions, be it a concept or actual physical experience, personal or political, private or public, or the mixing of these pairs.

Comrades

Young people are protesting on the streets of Hong Kong in order to bring about change. Air soaked with tear gas, the dark uniforms and loud commands of the police officers in the colourful umbrella sea of the protesters. In the midst of the action, the film documents a brand new protest movement.

Tramps!

Goes deep into the heart of Britain’s New Romantics scene, tracing how a group of outsiders transformed London's underground art and music communities and its enduring influence and impact across the globe. A decade in the making, this groundbreaking film follows how the New Romantics – AKA the Blitz Kids – became one of the most iconic cultural movements.

Kamchatka - A Fly Journey

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Loslassen

Film about the alpinist Roger Schäli and the Arwa Spire summit.

Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Eternals

Join director Chloe Zhao and the Cast of Eternals as they recount their experiences during the making of Marvel Studios’ most ambitious film to date. Discover how the ensemble cast felt stepping into their roles, filming in remote locations, and creating bonds that would help to create the on-screen relationships that span over 7,000 years.

Le Passage - Il Passaggio

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Pitlochry Welcomes You

Visit Pitlochry, a “busy, bustling town” in the heart of the Scottish Highlands featuring boozing stags, ladies lunching, tweed and whisky galore!

Education Week

Young scholars get busy for Newcastle-on-Tyne's 'Education Week' in the tour of Tyneside classrooms.

Great Peter of York

A large crowd and choir, on an historic day at York Minster, greet the arrival of a replacement big bell, watching and singing as labourers manfully slide the 10 ton bell off a truck.

The Workshop of the World: Birmingham

Spellbinding images of Birmingham between the wars.

Great Western Road

Take a virtual stroll down the streets of Glasgow’s iconic Great Western Road.

Trip to Hilsea Lido

Large numbers of children and adults can be seen enjoying themselves, splashing about in the water or diving from the high-boards.

Climate Change: The Facts

After one of the hottest years on record, Sir David Attenborough looks at the science of climate change and potential solutions to this global threat. Interviews with some of the world’s leading climate scientists explore recent extreme weather conditions such as unprecedented storms and catastrophic wildfires. They also reveal what dangerous levels of climate change could mean for both human populations and the natural world in the future.

Patutiki the Guardians of The Marquesan Tattoo

First-time feature filmmakers Heretu Tetahiotupa, Christophe Cordier delve into the ritual art of Marquesan tattoo, sharing its cultural and historical significance by reenacting the past and challenging the present.

Brené Brown: The Call to Courage

Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent more than a decade studying vulnerability, courage, authenticity and shame. With two TED talks under her belt, Brené Brown brings her humor and empathy to Netflix to discuss what it takes to choose courage over comfort in a culture defined by scarcity, fear and uncertainty.

Tortured by Mum and Dad? - The Turpin 13

A look at the Turpin family case

Hating Peter Tatchell

The powerful and inspiring true story of the controversial human rights campaigner whose provocative acts of civil diso bedience rocked the British establishment, revolutionised attitudes to homosexuality and exposed world tyrants. As social attitudes change and history vindicates Peter's stance on gay rights, his David versus Goliath battles gradually win him status as a national treasure. The film follows Peter as he embarks on his riskiest crusade yet by seeking to disrupt the FIFA World Cup in Moscow to draw attention to the persecution of LGBT+ people in Russia and Chechnya.

Caravan

The four Afghan refugees who have applied for asylum in Austria strike up the song, “The caravan moves on” again and again. Encouraged by the journalist Lucy Ashton to record their lives on their smartphone cameras as a video diary, the friends film their precarious daily routine between visits to authorities, small jobs, and changing accommodations. Yet even when hope is lost, one certainty remains: the power of friendship.

Upon Westminster Bridge

Considered one of the best ‘dub’ poets of his time, Mikey Smith is internationally renown for the socially engaged form and content of his work. Originally made for BBC2’s Arena, Upon Westminster Bridge profiles Smith’s poetry and politics through performance, exchanges with fellow poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, and conversations with historian and social theorist CLR James.

Eastern Avenue

From the material he shot during a three month journey, Peter Mettler edited a lyrical film which is no ordinary travelogue or diary. Without occupying himself in advance with anticipated images, he attempted as often as spontaneously as possible to respond and react to his surroundings, improvising with the camera as one would on a musical instrument. These visual notes allow insights into perceptions, feelings and emotional states in various situations.

Seven Years-Journalism without Journalist

A total of 17 journalists have been fired since 2008, the beginning of LEE Myung-bak’s presidential term. They fought against the companies that they worked for succumbing to power and are now frustrated at reality where censorship of the press by authority has now become a norm. Can they continue their activities as journalists?

The World's Most Famous Train

During its nine-month-long season, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express makes over 60 journeys, covering 150,000 kilometres, with the majority of trips between London and Venice. The train is comprised of 17 unique 1920s carriages that have transported a host of elite individuals across Italy, Switzerland, and Turkey for more than a century. This documentary follows the stories of the staff and passengers as the train makes its way across Europe, with some customers having paid more than £2,000 for the privilege.

Anne Frank's Holocaust

Anne Frank's world famous diary came to an abrupt end shortly before she and her family were discovered hiding from the Nazis in a secret annex at the top of Otto Frank's office building, on August 4, 1944. While her diary tells the story of Anne's life, the story of her death reveals the atrocities encountered by millions of Jews during the Holocaust. In a solemn remembrance of the horrors that Anne Frank and these millions of others suffered during the dark days of World War II, National Geographic Channel (NGC) takes viewers inside the concentration camps in a two-hour special. In keeping with NGC's tradition of unparalleled storytelling, Anne Frank's Holocaust incorporates new findings and rarely seen photographs to reintroduce the story of the massacre of Jews in one of the most comprehensive documentaries on the subject to date.