Wednesday Night Film Series

Sorry for the delay, it's been a hell of a few weeks. Below is some information on a series of films that me and friends are screening every other week, with a little help from Video Power... if you are in HK, try and check some of them out!

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This is what democracy looks like                                                 

 

Wednesday Night Film Series
星期三晚放映系列
22/6/2005, 8:00pm

Everywhere, we heard talks of democracy but have not really quite seen how it would looks like up close. Now, let me show you,

This is what democracy looks like

無論在那裹，我們經常都聽到有關民主的言論但又從來都沒有機會從近處看見它。現在讓我展示給你看吧，

這就是民主的面貌

Showplace:
Video Power
Flat A, 8/F., Yiu Chung Building, 368 Portland Street, Mongkok

放映地點:
錄影力量
旺角砵蘭街368號耀中大廈8樓8A室

ShowTime:
8:00 p.m.

放映時間:
晚上八時正

About the Film：
A co-production of the Seattle Independent Media Center and Big Noise Films, THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE is a 56 minute documentary capturing the events of the 1999 anti-WTO protests in Seattle.

關於本片：
由 西雅圖獨立媒體中心(Seattle Independent Media Centre)及大大聲影視(Big Noise Films)協力製作。「這就是民主的面貌」(This is what democracy looks like)片長56分鐘。本片紀錄捕捉了1999年於西雅圖發生的反世貿示威活動情況。

Contact聯絡:

narcissan@operamail.com , ptiwari@netvigator.com

About the Wednesday Night Film Series:
關於星期三晚放映系列：

The Wednesday Night Film Series is a free monthly showing of films, videos, and documentaries open to all. Our aim is to create discussion around the issues of neoliberalism, capitalism, resistance, and alternatives in the run-up to the WTO ministerial in Hong Kong in December 2005...

星期三晚放映系列為一個公開及免費的每月電影、錄像及紀錄片放映系列活動。由現在至本年度十二月於香港舉行之世界貿易組織部長級會議，我們希望籍此放映系列引發有關新自由主義、資本主義以至有關之反抗及不同選擇的討論……

Around the world, the ideology of the 'open market' or 'neoliberalism' is spread and enforced by powerful institutions such as the WTO, IMF, and World Bank. But what are these institutions, and what do they do?

 

放眼世界可見，以世界貿易組織，國際貨幣基金會及世界銀行為首的權威性組織不斷地宣揚及強制推行着「自由市場」及「新自由主義」的觀念。但這些組織究竟代表着甚麼，它們所推行的又是甚麼呢？

If we are to believe the propadanda, their ideology of corporate globalization is based on values that we should all find desirable. Markets, after all, are said to be 'free', are associated with 'choice' and 'diversity', are linked to individual autonomy and democracy, and will lead to enrichment and an end to poverty. The 'free market', we often hear, is 'normal' and 'fair', a default setting that does not reflect any bias or ideology, and thus its spread will signal the end of conflict and the creation of a 'global village'.

假如我們選擇相信他們的講 法，我們就得相信他們的企業全球化觀念是建基於一套值得我們追求的價值觀。我們就得相信，市場實應建基於「選擇」、「多元性」、「個體自主」、「整體民 主」以至最終達至「生活質素提升」及「消除貧窮」，因此「市場」應要「自由」發展。我們經常接收到「自由市場」就是「正常」及「公平」的訊息，「自由市 場」的預設安排並不反映任何偏見或意識型態，故此，它的擴散將代表着紛爭的消除及「地球村」的建立。

Hong Kong has already been deeply embedded in this 'world economy' for decades- from the days of drug-running colonial gunboats to the time of Mickey Mouse, we have heard that global capitalism has taken up the noble burden of bringing sun to the shadows and building for us 'The Happiest Place on Earth'.

由殖民者運輸鴉片的炮艦打開港口的年代，直至米奇老鼠即將登陸香港的今天，香港已深植於這「世界經濟體系」之中一世紀之久，我們經常聽說：全球化資本主義背負着以陽光照耀陰暗，與及為我們建設,「地球上最快樂的地方」的祟高使命。

Yet look around us, at our own city, and around the world. Do we see poverty being eliminated with the liberalization of trade and growth of the GDP? Or do we see that more and more of our fellow citizens are becoming structurally redundant and dropping below the poverty line with the growth of the prospering economy? Are we free individuals with control over decisions that affect us, or do corporations and other unaccountable institutions have a greater say in our lives and communities than we do? Do we see diversity, or monoculture and a saturation of the market by its most powerful players? Do we see the solidarity of a 'global village' developing between each other and our neighbours, or greater divisions of rich and poor, greater competition between people, and scapegoating of marginalized people, migrants and foreigners? Do we see conflicts ending, or is ours a world that is edging closer to destroying itself every day? And do we really see the freedom to change this and to create alternatives, or are we faced with an ideology that refuses to consider the possibility of something else, something more desirable?

但當我們回頭看清楚我們身處的地方，以至全世界，我們真的看到貿易自由化及國內產總 值增長消除了貧窮嗎？或是，真實的現象反而是：在經濟發展持續增長的情況下，越來越多我們的市民朋友們，被結構性地擠壓至貧窮線以下呢？作為個體，我們是 真的可以掌握那些將影響我們生活的決定呢？或是容忍那些商貿大企業及無公開問責性的機構，對我們的生活及社區有着比我們更大的發言權呢？我們真的看見多元 化嗎？或是市場反被那些壟權者推動的一體化所飽和了呢？我們看到團結我們與鄰人的「地球村」的發展嗎？還是見到每況越下的貧富懸殊，人與人之間的競爭，以 至把邊緣社群、移民及他者塑造成代罪羔羊的現象呢？我們看到紛爭的消除嗎？或是我們看到一個正步向自我毀滅的世界呢？在這現況下，我們看到嘗試改善以至開 創不同選擇的自由嗎？或是我們正面對着一套拒絕考慮其他意見和渴求的可能性的觀念呢？

Has history ended? Is the fundamentalism of the 'free market' truly the model, the only way ahead? Where are the voices of opposition? What are they saying?

歷史是否已經終結？「自由市場」的原教旨主義是否就是最終的模範及唯一出路？哪裏有反對聲音？他/她們的聲音在訴說著甚麼？

In A Land Called Chiapas , there raged a storm from the mountains to open up a window for the movement of the movements. From the Showdown in Seattle to Kilometer 0 in Cancun , we saw This is What Democracy Looks Like and that humanity's struggle to resist The Fourth World War is on. Resistance raged as The Navigators charted the map of The Corporation , and a pots-and-pans struggle in Argentina created The Take to occupy, create, and seize future from the bottom up.

在一個名叫齊亞柏斯的地方，那裹吹起了一道 來自山區的風潮，衪為一場眾多不同運動互動而成的運動吹開了一道窗口。由西雅圖的攤牌現場至坎昆的零公里，我們看到這就是民主的面貌，及因人民的掙扎和抵 抗而展開的第四次世界大戰。其中，導航員描繪了大企業的航圖，亞根延的飯碗奮抗路線如何行進至一個由下而上的工人當家去回奪，開創以至掌握將來的標示。

Thus, we will not be your guides, but we will give you our hands, to consummate without neglect and share with you another view of the present, and another vision of the future. Come and join our regular film screenings and discussions- what we have in store for you is one big NO to neo-liberalism and many yeses to you the peoples.

就此，我們不會成為你/妳的導引，但我們將伸出我們雙手，希望與你/妳成就分享另一個對現在觀察及另一個對將來的想像。請參與我們的定期放映及討論─我們為你/妳準備了一個對新自由主義的特大交叉，還有對你/妳及其他人民的眾多確認和肯定。

Jointly presented by the Wednesday Night Films Series and the Video Power
星期三晚放映系列及錄影力量協辦