An Asian Ghost Story (九龙东往事)

Bo Wang

Wigs were vital for the rise of the Asian economy in the post-war era. In the heyday of the 1960s, it was the number four export in Hong Kong's export-orientated industrialization. Between Mao's China – the largest source of hair supplies – and the insatiable Western market, Hong Kong functioned as the gateway. The story departs from a United States embargo on the hair trade, known as the “Communist Hair Ban”. Through stories of movement, diaspora and migration, the film examines the role of Hong Kong as a transient space that mediates and sanitizes the connection between different worlds. It also shows haunting memories of Asia’s late 20th-century modernization. In every wig resides a ghost from the imperial past.

The Netherlands, Hongkong 2023, '37

DIRECTOR: Bo Wang

SCENARIO: Bo Wang

CAMERA: Yavuz Selim Isler, Fai Wan

MONTAGE: Bo Wang

PRODUCERS: Ruoyao Jane Yao

PRODUCTION: Geodesic Studio, Vines Films

FESTIVALS & AWARDS:

CPH:DOX: New:Vision Award (2023)
Arkipel: Arkipel Award; Forum Lenteng Award (2023)
Image Forum Festival: Award for Excellence (2023)
Curtocircuito IFF: Cosmos Award for the Best Innovative Film; New Jury Award (2023)
DOK Leipzig: Golden Dove Award (2023)
Festival Entrevues Belfort: Grand Prix André S. Labarthe (2023)
Sharjah Film Platform: Winner Documentary Short (2023)

Bo Wang

Bo Wang is an artist, filmmaker and researcher based in the Netherlands. His works have been exhibited internationally, including venues like the Guggenheim Museum and Museum of Modern Art in New York, Garage Museum in Moscow, Rotterdam Film Festival in the Netherlands, Visions du Réel in Switzerland, Image Forum Festival in Tokyo, DMZ Docs in South Korea, Times Museum in Guangzhou, Para Site in Hong Kong, among many others. He received a fellowship from the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar in 2013 and was an artist-in-residency at ACC-Rijksakademie 2017-2018 and NTU CCA in 2016.

Filmography:
Murmuring Debris and Leaves Silently Fall (2019)
Many Undulating Things (2019)
Miasma, Plants, Export Paintings (2017)
The Wangs (2016)
Traces of An Invisible City: Three Notes on Hong Kong (2016)
China Concerto (2012)

An Asian Ghost Story (九龙东往事)

Bo Wang

Bo Wang

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