“The first time I threw a Molotov cocktail my whole body was shaking. I don’t think any Hongkonger would have imagined having to throw a Molotov cocktail in their lifetime. But when you have been pushed into a corner, you really don’t have a choice,” said one of the young activists in Hong Kong’s Fight for Freedom, which compellingly documented the pro-democracy protests that began in 2019.
These were not hardened campaigners, but young people who feared that the freedoms they once enjoyed were under threat from the Chinese government. In order to protect their identities, the programme used artificial intelligence to digitally alter their faces. The stakes here are high. This first of two instalments ended with news footage of a Beijing spokesman, who issued a chilling warning: “Don’t mistake restraint for weakness. Those who play with fire will burn themselves. The punishment will come and they will perish.”
We are all guilty of tuning out during news bulletins, or skimming over pages in the newspaper, or thinking that these events are happening far away and don’t directly concern us. Here was a documentary which laid out the issues very simply and clearly, from the protesters’ point of view.”
★★★★ – Anita Singh, The Telegraph
Directed by Toby Paton; BBC