Sheungman Yim

Rocky is a talented boxer, but is forced to quit boxing for being an asylum seeker. Rocky starts a new life when his coach tries to build him a career and life while staying afloat in Hong Kong. Helping with moving and volunteer work, he gets to know other tenants like Raja and Bitto and hears about their life stories. He realises that they have nothing left but he still has boxing - and that calling has never stopped.

At some point in life an age-old question will inevitably crop up: Do we swim against the tide or go with the flow? The band, Against the Tide, was doomed before it even started. A year later, the songwriter is selling his soul to catchy pop tunes and commercial music, hitching his wagon to else’s grand schemes while being hitched by a young music devotee; the bassist is venturing north across the border; the drummer is working as an insurance agent and all set for fatherhood. Before the factory building is demolished for a lucrative redevelopment scheme, the band members, bar one, return to their studio to clear out the place, contemplating making a final appearance for a farewell gig. The reunion takes place, albeit obliquely, each member putting their best foot forward to steer their own course.

Panning from a tour guide testing his microphone, to tourists deciding on a cafe, to a camera operator hurriedly scouting for locations, this comedic single-take filmed from a rooftop in Kowloon City, Hong Kong, moves between rehearsed, reenacted, real, and all the way back again. Who’s watching who, and if everyone is both watching and performing, who gets to frame the truth?

Rocky is a talented boxer, but is forced to quit boxing for being an asylum seeker. Rocky starts a new life when his coach tries to build him a career and life while staying afloat in Hong Kong. Helping with moving and volunteer work, he gets to know other tenants like Raja and Bitto and hears about their life stories. He realises that they have nothing left but he still has boxing - and that calling has never stopped.

Rocky is a talented boxer, but is forced to quit boxing for being an asylum seeker. Rocky starts a new life when his coach tries to build him a career and life while staying afloat in Hong Kong. Helping with moving and volunteer work, he gets to know other tenants like Raja and Bitto and hears about their life stories. He realises that they have nothing left but he still has boxing - and that calling has never stopped.

At some point in life an age-old question will inevitably crop up: Do we swim against the tide or go with the flow? The band, Against the Tide, was doomed before it even started. A year later, the songwriter is selling his soul to catchy pop tunes and commercial music, hitching his wagon to else’s grand schemes while being hitched by a young music devotee; the bassist is venturing north across the border; the drummer is working as an insurance agent and all set for fatherhood. Before the factory building is demolished for a lucrative redevelopment scheme, the band members, bar one, return to their studio to clear out the place, contemplating making a final appearance for a farewell gig. The reunion takes place, albeit obliquely, each member putting their best foot forward to steer their own course.

At some point in life an age-old question will inevitably crop up: Do we swim against the tide or go with the flow? The band, Against the Tide, was doomed before it even started. A year later, the songwriter is selling his soul to catchy pop tunes and commercial music, hitching his wagon to else’s grand schemes while being hitched by a young music devotee; the bassist is venturing north across the border; the drummer is working as an insurance agent and all set for fatherhood. Before the factory building is demolished for a lucrative redevelopment scheme, the band members, bar one, return to their studio to clear out the place, contemplating making a final appearance for a farewell gig. The reunion takes place, albeit obliquely, each member putting their best foot forward to steer their own course.

Panning from a tour guide testing his microphone, to tourists deciding on a cafe, to a camera operator hurriedly scouting for locations, this comedic single-take filmed from a rooftop in Kowloon City, Hong Kong, moves between rehearsed, reenacted, real, and all the way back again. Who’s watching who, and if everyone is both watching and performing, who gets to frame the truth?

Panning from a tour guide testing his microphone, to tourists deciding on a cafe, to a camera operator hurriedly scouting for locations, this comedic single-take filmed from a rooftop in Kowloon City, Hong Kong, moves between rehearsed, reenacted, real, and all the way back again. Who’s watching who, and if everyone is both watching and performing, who gets to frame the truth?