Joseph Gordon-Levitt is calling on Hongkongers to record themselves reading out loud a poem about Hong Kong.
On his Facebook page, the US actor shared a photo of the city’s skyline on Thursday. “I’m looking for a few people to read this script out loud,” he wrote.
https://www.facebook.com/JoeGordonLevitt/photos/a.192553260768346/3779922802031356
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The link leads to a five-stanza poem called “Hong Kong Never Sleeps.”
No doubt a well-intentioned project, the poem begins perhaps a little too romantically and Lonely Planet guidebook-y, calling the city a “beauty in the orient” and “a smiling dragon that breathes.”
One of the stanzas references Hong Kong’s protests.
“Hong Kong, weeping tears of rain
Bringing together people in the streets
Freedom fighters
With faces of pain
And voices that will be heard,” it reads.
The post was shared more than 2,500 times within five hours of posting. Some Facebook users said they were grateful to Gordon-Levitt for “standing with Hong Kong,” hashtagging #fightforfreedom and #save12hkyouths, referring to the dozen Hongkongers who have been detained in mainland China for close to 60 days after an ill-fated escape to Taiwan.
Others tagged their friends, encouraging them to send in their recordings of the poem.
Around 350 entries were submitted by Thursday afternoon.
Last month, the Gordon-Levitt appealed to Facebook users to share photos of their city. Supporters of the pro-democracy movement shared hundreds of protest-related photos showing tear gas-choked streets and police attacking commuters in a subway station—perhaps not quite what the actor was expecting when he made the call for pictures.
Read more: Why Joseph Gordon-Levitt is asking Thailand for photos
In recent weeks, Gordon-Levitt has been asking people from different countries and territories—from Taiwan to Vietnam to Germany—to share photos and audio clips on HitRecord, a media platform founded by the celebrity.
He and his team have been compiling submissions into short slideshow videos, each featuring a different destination. (It is unclear if any compensation is involved for those who contribute to the projects.)
In a description for a video he shared called “The Wonders of Vietnam,” which was posted just before his Hong Kong call, he wrote: “This piece features photos, videos, writing, voice acting, music, and editing from over 50 contributors. I love how it turned out, and I want to extend a sincere THANK YOU to every single artist who contributed to this project.”
