Umbrella Diaries: The First Umbrella

Hundreds of thousands − perhaps even millions − of protestors have taken to the streets of Hong Kong since early June. Sparked initially by the government's plans for a controversial extradition bill, the movement has now transformed into a broader push for greater freedoms and democracy, with anger over police brutality fuelling a cycle of violence. The protests are Hong Kong's biggest challenge to Beijing since its return to China in 1997. If We Burn looks at the movement through the eyes of Hong Kongers whose fates, like their city's future, now hang in the balance.

Welcome to Hollywood, Kim Jong-il style. For the first time, foreign cameras are allowed into the world’s most secretive state’s only film school. In a country where film is a vital propaganda tool, not entertainment, what room is there for artistic expression? Very little. Filmmakers James Leong and Lynn Lee follow two young actors and a director, handpicked by the regime to become stars, as they hone their craft. Every scene of implored love for the state, each painstaking rehearsal, even a surprise lesson in how to frame a portrait of Kim Jong-un raises the question of whether a gun, either literal or metaphorical, is pointed at the actors from the ever-watchful sidelines. We are never certain whether its rank and file toe the party line with anything like the willingness evinced by the privileged protagonists. Searing critique, objective observation or just fantastic fun, this is an irresistible glimpse behind barbed wire.

Boreak was six when he lost his right arm in a landmine accident in Cambodia. His parents sent him to a home in Siem Reap for young landmine victims. The home is run by Aki Ra, a former Khmer Rouge soldier who is haunted by his violent past and hopes to make amends by helping remove the millions of landmines still buried in his country. Aki Ra’s Boys, the second feature documentary by filmmakers James Leong and Lynn Lee, premiered at the Singapore International Film Festival in 2007. It screened at the Yamagata Internation