Repertoire of youth activism in 1970s Hong Kong: The 70s Biweekly and experimental cinema

First published in 1970, The 70s Bi-weekly (hereafter, The 70s) stands out from many other independent magazines in Hong Kong around the same time by its unique ‘action-oriented-ness’. More than a printed magazine whose contents blend radical political theories, social activism, and avant-garde art,...

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Main Author: Lu Pan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Cogent Arts & Humanities
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2024.2357885
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author Lu Pan
author_facet Lu Pan
author_sort Lu Pan
collection DOAJ
description First published in 1970, The 70s Bi-weekly (hereafter, The 70s) stands out from many other independent magazines in Hong Kong around the same time by its unique ‘action-oriented-ness’. More than a printed magazine whose contents blend radical political theories, social activism, and avant-garde art, the ‘action-oriented’ feature of The 70s is seen in both of its political and cultural actions. This article places The 70s in the context of the production and screening of experimental films in Hong Kong at the time, and discusses two (experimental) films made by the magazine’s editorial board in the 1970s. They are a documentary (1971) that records the ‘Defend Diaoyu Islands’ protests on April 10th of the same year in Hong Kong and an experimental film To the Arty Youths of Hong Kong (1978), imbued with political metaphors and critical sarcasm. Extending Charles Tilly’s (2008) discussion on the repertoire of contentious politics to the cultural dimension, I argue that these films constitute one of their diverse repertoires of social activism. The transformation of the cinematic style from realism to postmodern collage also illustrates a vital shift of the media performativity in their repertoire of dissent.
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spelling doaj-art-c19d903f5ea44f339b814e3e6f3400112025-08-20T01:56:34ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Arts & Humanities2331-19832024-12-0111110.1080/23311983.2024.2357885Repertoire of youth activism in 1970s Hong Kong: The 70s Biweekly and experimental cinemaLu Pan0Department of Chinese History and Culture, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaFirst published in 1970, The 70s Bi-weekly (hereafter, The 70s) stands out from many other independent magazines in Hong Kong around the same time by its unique ‘action-oriented-ness’. More than a printed magazine whose contents blend radical political theories, social activism, and avant-garde art, the ‘action-oriented’ feature of The 70s is seen in both of its political and cultural actions. This article places The 70s in the context of the production and screening of experimental films in Hong Kong at the time, and discusses two (experimental) films made by the magazine’s editorial board in the 1970s. They are a documentary (1971) that records the ‘Defend Diaoyu Islands’ protests on April 10th of the same year in Hong Kong and an experimental film To the Arty Youths of Hong Kong (1978), imbued with political metaphors and critical sarcasm. Extending Charles Tilly’s (2008) discussion on the repertoire of contentious politics to the cultural dimension, I argue that these films constitute one of their diverse repertoires of social activism. The transformation of the cinematic style from realism to postmodern collage also illustrates a vital shift of the media performativity in their repertoire of dissent.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2024.2357885The 70s Bi-weeklyHong Kong experimental cinemaDefend Diaoyu Islands MovementMok Chiu Yucultural activismarty youth
spellingShingle Lu Pan
Repertoire of youth activism in 1970s Hong Kong: The 70s Biweekly and experimental cinema
Cogent Arts & Humanities
The 70s Bi-weekly
Hong Kong experimental cinema
Defend Diaoyu Islands Movement
Mok Chiu Yu
cultural activism
arty youth
title Repertoire of youth activism in 1970s Hong Kong: The 70s Biweekly and experimental cinema
title_full Repertoire of youth activism in 1970s Hong Kong: The 70s Biweekly and experimental cinema
title_fullStr Repertoire of youth activism in 1970s Hong Kong: The 70s Biweekly and experimental cinema
title_full_unstemmed Repertoire of youth activism in 1970s Hong Kong: The 70s Biweekly and experimental cinema
title_short Repertoire of youth activism in 1970s Hong Kong: The 70s Biweekly and experimental cinema
title_sort repertoire of youth activism in 1970s hong kong the 70s biweekly and experimental cinema
topic The 70s Bi-weekly
Hong Kong experimental cinema
Defend Diaoyu Islands Movement
Mok Chiu Yu
cultural activism
arty youth
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2024.2357885
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