With High Wire, Hong Kong-born filmmaker in UK reflects on her immigrant experience
Filmmaker Calif Chong and actress Isabella Wei talk about Chong’s debut film High Wire and the realities of immigration in the UK
Every immigrant story is different, but Calif Chong Ngai-man, a Hong Kong-born, London-based filmmaker, has found a way to make one relatable as well as humorous.
Chong’s debut feature, High Wire, premiering at the BFI London Film Festival in the UK on October 15, is a coming-of-age film centred on a Hong Kong-British girl wanting to join the circus in a rural part of England. It is a story about taking risks, chasing dreams and realising them.
“This could be an impulsive decision, but it is what I want to do,” Chong tells the Post.
High Wire depicts a second-generation immigrant’s perspective, but is as much about the first-generation immigrant experience.
“Both of [the lead character] Go-wing’s parents moved from Hong Kong to the UK in hopes of a brighter future – like many Hongkongers are now doing – but the sad reality is, this future has a lot to do with your circumstances, especially if you’re not well off and have to work to make ends meet,” she says.
While Chong recognises a new wave of Hong Kong immigrants moving to the UK who may not work in Chinese takeaways like many of the older generations did, High Wire still resonates on a different level.