Blue Island: Toward a Democratic Sociality through Affective Dissonance,” Journal of Chinese Cinema (June 19, 2026).
Abstract:
In Jauwat zi dou (Youyu zhi dao in Mandarin or Blue Island, 2022), director Chan Tze-woon puts into dialogue four traumatic memories and experiences that were considered by many Hong Kongers as mutually incommensurable. In the initial screenings of the film, some viewers even found such comparison objectionable. This article is an outcome and an attempted ‘continuation’ of my conversation with Chan Tze-woon from 2023. Through a close reading of Blue Island, I argue that Chan Tze-woon uses the cinema to foster an opportunity for the dependent co-arising of individual subjectivities and a democratic sociality (a way in which a democratic society can be constituted). It does so through a process that has not been imaginable under Hong Kong’s historical conditions. If being a Hong Konger is a process of becoming that requires constant negotiations among individuals who need to work through mutually contesting traumas, Blue Island enables spectators to try appreciating their differences as sites of conversation and connection.