2021
4K video
26′
Lining examines the rise and decline of the textile industry in Hong Kong against the historical shifts in labour, technology and capital taking place between the then-British colony and mainland China between 1946 and 1997. Beginning with the movement of Shanghai’s cotton mills to Hong Kong on the eve of the Communist takeover, the narrative extends into the Reform era during which Hong Kong’s industrial base was in turn displaced to the mainland, this time concentrated around the southern region of Guangdong. Weaving together archival material, interviews with former factory workers and managers and observational footage shot between Hong Kong and Guangdong, the film describes the transformation of Hong Kong from an industrial to a real-estate-centred financial hub while tracing the material networks that have connected the city to the mainland long before the official launch of China’s economic reforms.
