Student in controversial Hong Kong documentary hits out at planned Italian screening

A still from Mabel Cheung documentary “To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self”, which followed six girls over a decade.

Photo: Handout A student who featured in a controversial Hong Kong documentary has said she did not give her consent to it being shown at an Italian film festival, reiterating her objection to it being screened publicly.

Ah Ling, one of six students who featured in the coming-of-age documentary To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self, said she was only notified by Ying Wa Girls’ School on Friday that the film would be screened at the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, this month.

The school also did not address her concerns over whether sections featuring her had been taken out, she added. “I do not consent to the film being screened in any form,” she told pop culture magazine Wave.

She said no one had consulted her about the film being shown at the festival.

The documentary, co-directed by Ying Wa alumna Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting, was part of a fundraising campaign by the prestigious school to reconstruct its campus.

It tracked six students for a decade and featured their personal journeys amid turbulent times.

The work was released in February 2023, but was withdrawn from cinemas just a few days later after Ah Ling wrote to Ming Pao Weekly complaining that the film was screened without her consent.

The film also came under fire from Olympic medal-winning cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze, who said it included footage of an interview Cheung did with her in 2016.

Lee said she never agreed the footage could be used in the documentary for commercial screening.

Announcing the withdrawal from cinemas back then, Cheung offered her apologies to students involved, and said “people are more important than the film itself”.

Mabel Cheung discusses the film in 2023.

Photo: Sam Tsang Despite the controversies, the documentary won best picture at the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards in 2023, with co-director William Kwok Wai-lun receiving the award and urging fellow filmmakers “not to be scared, film it first, edit it first and screen it first” in his acceptance speech.

Kwok later apologised for his remarks.

Concerns surrounding the documentary resurfaced as the Far East Film Festival announced its line-up for its 2026 edition on Thursday, with To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self being listed in its “out of competition” section – a category for films of “extreme value” that do not meet certain event requirements.

Both Cheung and Kwok were listed as the event’s guests.

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