PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE AUSTRALIA CAPITAL HONG KONG ASSOCIATION

In 2019, the Hong Kong government announced plans to introduce a law permitting the extradition of criminal suspects to Mainland China. To save what they saw as the city’s eroding freedoms and rule of law, the people of Hong Kong took to the streets to march in unprecedented scale.

This documentary takes viewers to the front lines, following the stories of protesters as they clash with riot police, as well as ordinary citizens at a pivotal moment in their city’s history. Together, they experience hope and desperation, love and heartbreak, all while fighting for the place they call home.

In a British seaside town during the early 1980s, Hilary (Olivia Colman) lives a lonely, listless existence. When she isn’t working at the fading Empire cinema or engaging in unromantic extramarital sex with her boss (Colin Firth), she moves through the world numbed by medication. Then along comes new employee Stephen (Micheal Ward), a kindred spirit with whom Hilary finds a sense of belonging and eventually forges a secret romance. But Hilary’s mental health issues and the turbulence of the times threaten to drive a wedge between them.

Evocative, understated and absolutely gorgeous, the latest film from director Sam Mendes (1917, American Beauty) is a love letter to cinema and the power of human connection.