Screening of activist Edward Leung’s documentary could violate national security law, HKU warns

School administration has warned the University of Hong Kong (HKU)’s student union that their planned screenings of “Lost in the Fumes,” a documentary about localist activist Edward Leung, could violate the national security law.

In a letter to the union, the university screencapped scenes from the film, including shots of Leung chanting controversial slogan “Reclaim Hong Kong, Revolution of our Time” and suggesting the use of violence, and a still with a backdrop reading “Hong Kong independence banner,” according to student broadcaster Campus TV Tuesday.

“The mere fact that those wordings appeared on the screen and the ethos expressed will invite the undesirable attention of opposition party and law enforcement agencies,” the university cautioned.

To mark the fifth anniversary of the Fishball Revolution, a night of violent unrest named for protesters’ resistance to police crackdown on unlicensed street hawkers in Feb. 2016, HKU’s student union plans to hold three screenings of “Lost in the Fumes” in the coming week.

Leung, a HKU graduate, was convicted of a riot charge over his role in the Fishball Revolution, and was sentenced to a six-year jail sentence in 2018.

Media hailed him as a spiritual leader of the 2019 protests, his campaign slogan when he was running for Legislative Council elections in 2016—”Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times”—becoming one of the most symbolic chants of the year-long movement.

While the university did not bar the union from holding the screenings, it advised the students to “seek professional legal advice” first and do what is needed to “mitigate the potential legal risks and repercussions.”

Later on Tuesday, the student union said that the screenings will still go ahead despite the university’s warnings.

“Lost in the Fumes” premiered in 2017 and has was won awards praising its portrayal of the young activist against the city’s changing political landscape.

Last year, the documentary was screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), one of the most prestigious celebrations of independent filmmaking globally.