The premiere of Hong Kong short film Wood House was watched by a packed house, who applauded when its starring actor Neha Rai, a Hong Kong-born Nepalese, took to the stage afterwards with her fellow cast members. The scene at Soho House Hong Kong, in Sheng Wan, last October was unusual. Ethnic minority actors tend to play criminals – or are largely absent from Hong Kong film and TV.
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It seems clear that Hong Kong productions need to be more welcoming to members of ethnic minority groups and write more diverse roles into their scripts, particularly as this is a city where ethnic minorities make up more than 8 per cent of the population, accounting for nearly 620,000 residents, according to the latest census in 2021. It would allow a greater variety of stories to be told from different perspectives, helping audiences learn about and empathise with Hongkongers of all backgrounds.
And if we truly want to revitalise Hong Kong’s film industry, we will need to leverage a key yet underused strength: the city’s diversity.
The road to progress is long. Of the 37 films released in 2023, just one featured an actor from an ethnic minority group in a prominent role: The Sunny Side of the Street focused on an unlikely friendship between a Hong Kong-born Pakistani boy and a Chinese taxi driver. One reviewer said the film’s “focus on ethnic minority refugees is admirable given how mainstream Hong Kong institutions often either ignore or demonise the community”.
But such benevolence is rare and some producers may be guilty of avoiding the use of actors from non-ethnically-Chinese communities.
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In April 2022, for instance, the role of a Filipino domestic worker in TVB’s Barrack O’Karma 1968 series was given to Franchesca Wong, who darkened her skin for the role, sparking outrage over what was seen as “brownface”. Wong had to apologise. “I genuinely have no intention to disrespect or racially discriminate [against] any ethnic group, please forgive me for getting it wrong,” she wrote on social media. Wong’s co-star King Lam also apologised for posting a video of her applying the make-up.
