Hong Kong film director accuses school of lying amid fresh privacy row over documentary screening

An acclaimed Hong Kong director has accused her alma mater of “publicly lying” after the prestigious girls’ school said it never authorised a controversial documentary to be screened overseas amid a fresh privacy row.

A still shot of documentary “To My Nineteen-year-old Self.” File photo: To My Nineteen-year-old Self, via Facebook

To My Nineteen-Year-OId Self, an award-winning documentary commissioned by Ying Wa Girls’ School that tracked the lives of six students over the course of a decade from 2011, was pulled from cinemas in 2023 after one of the students featured said she did not consent to public screenings.

The drama sparked a heated debate over documentary ethics, which was reignited last week after two the film’s subjects opposed the film’s screening at the Far East Film Festival in Italy.

The screening is set to take place later this month.

Director Mabel Cheung and her production team issued an open letter on Thursday night as the controversy snowballed, after Ying Wa Girls’ School issued a statement earlier that day that it had not approved the Italy screening.

In the Chinese-language letter sent to media, Cheung, a prominent alumni of the school, said she was “saddened” and felt “regretful” at the school’s position.

Cheung said the principal did not oppose the Italy screening during a meeting two months ago.

“For three years we kept our silence and avoided the media, with the team under immense psychological pressure. However, we said nothing out of respect for the school and to ensure the students in the film remained free from public opinion,” Cheung wrote.

“My alma mater’s statement… sought to distance itself from the incident. I am deeply shocked. The school is lying publicly, which is unacceptable and intolerable.”

‘Scapegoating’

Cheung said she and a representative from the film’s distributor, Golden Scene, met with the school’s principal and vice-principal in February to discuss the Italy screening.

“During the meeting, the principal even told us to prepare a budget for joining the film festival. Both of them made no opposition,” she said.

Mabel Cheung meets the press on February 5 over the controversies surrounding her documentary “To My 19-year-old Self.” File photo: RTHK, via Facebook screenshot.

Cheung also said that the principal told her that all but one student in the film, surnamed Wong, “agreed” to the screening plan in Italy.

The production team edited her parts out of the film, Cheung said.

“As far as I know, the film festival organisers had informed [Wong’s] lawyer about this,” she added.

Cheung said she “did not expect” a second student to express disagreement to the media.

That student, surnamed Sheh, signed a consent form in 2022 for the film to be screened publicly and to participate in film festivals, she said.

The director said she had hoped the controversy could be resolved via communication, describing Ying Wa Girls’ School’s statement as “scapegoating.”

“To My Nineteen-Year-OId Self is an unpaid effort by a group of alumni who wish to leave a historical record for the school… it is great irony in this incident that the school has chosen to sever ties,” Cheung wrote.

School’s statement

In its statement, Ying Wa Girls’ School said: “The School, being the owner of the documentary, hereby clarifies that no screenings of the documentary in any form will occur without resolving consent issues with all major cast members.”

“Consequently, the School has not granted authorization for the documentary to be screened at the Far East Film Festival in Italy.”

Ying Wa Girls’ School. Photo: Ying Wa Girls’ School.

Ying Wa Girls’ School’s statement came after the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, the city’s privacy watchdog, reportedly contacted the school expressing concern over the film’s screening.

In a separate statement on Thursday night, Golden Scene corroborated Cheung’s account about a meeting with the school’s principal earlier this year and said the school’s claims were false.

Golden Scene said it would not rule out legal action to protect its reputation.

The documentary won best film at the Hong Kong Film Awards in April 2023, two months after it was pulled from cinemas when Wong published a long letter in a media outlet saying she had opposed the film’s public screening “from the very beginning.”

After news emerged last week that the film was scheduled for a screening in Italy, Wong told media that she was not consulted about it and that she remained opposed. Sheh also reportedly said she told Ying Wa Girls’ School that she opposed the screening plan in January.

HKFP was unable to reach for two women for comment.