My Voice, My Life
Film poster
《爭氣》／《争气》
Directed byRuby Yang
Produced byRuby Yang
Ada Ho
CinematographySiu Ki Yip
Edited byMan Cheung Ma
Music byBrian Keane
Robert Ellis-Geiger
Release date
  • October 2014 (2014-10)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese

My Voice, My Life 《爭氣》 is a feature-length documentary film directed by Ruby Yang. It tells the poignant stories of a group of under-privileged Hong Kong youngsters who underwent six months of vigorous trainings to produce a musical on stage. Through their trials and tribulations, the students challenge parents, teachers and policy makers to reflect on our way of nurturing the next generation.

The film is presented by the L plus H Creations Foundation, in association with the Lee Hysan Foundation.

Ruby Yang's recent works have mainly focused on social issues in mainland China, such as The Blood of Yingzhou District, which won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject and The Warriors of Qiugang, which was nominated Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject in 2011.[1]

My Voice, My Life opened in 13 theaters in Hong Kong and Macau. Wall Street Journal named it "Hong Kong’s five most-notable films of 2014."[2] It won the 2015 NPT Human Spirit Award at the Nashville Film Festival.[3] It was selected by film critics societies from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China as "one of the ten best Chinese-language films of 2014."[4]

Plot summary

"My Voice, My Life" follows an unlikely group of misfit students from four Hong Kong schools cast together for a musical theater performance. From low self- esteem to blindness, each student confronts unique personal challenges in the process of developing his or her character. Teachers and administrators question whether this ragtag band will be able to work together, much less put on a successful show.[5]

Many of the musical theater troupe’s students come from Hong Kong’s least-desirable, "Band 3" secondary schools,[6] which admit the territory’s academically under-performing students. Others come from a school for the blind that seeks to teach its students how to perform basic tasks and function in the sighted world. Brought together to sing, dance, and act, the students question their own abilities and balk at the spotlight.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "DIRECTOR & PRODUCER". My Voice My Life, 爭氣. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Staff, WSJ (31 December 2014). "Hong Kong's 5 Most Essential Films of 2014". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Awards". My Voice My Life, 爭氣. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "海峽兩岸三地十大華語電影入圍名單出爐". 新浪新聞中心. Archived from the original on 23 August 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  5. 1 2 "SYNOPSIS". My Voice My Life, 爭氣. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Hong Kong - WSJ Spotlight Coverage, Recent News".
  • Official website
  • My Voice, My Life at IMDb
  • Hong Kong Education System - Hong Kong Education Bureau
  • The education system in Hong Kong - Introduction
  • The long and winding road of Hong Kong’s education changes
  • 香港中學學位分配辦法
  • 中學「統一派位」重點分析
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