Ann Hui

Boat People

Boat People

One of the preeminent works of the Hong Kong New Wave, Boat People is a shattering look at the circumstances that drove hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees to flee their homeland in the wake of the Vietnam War, told through images of haunting, unforgettable power. Three years after the Communist takeover, a Japanese photo­journalist (George Lam) travels to Vietnam to document the country’s seemingly triumphant rebirth. When he befriends a teenage girl (Season Ma) and her destitute family, however, he begins to discover what the government doesn’t want him to see: the brutal, often shocking reality of life in a country where political repression and poverty have forced many to resort to desperate measures in order to survive. Transcending polemic, renowned director Ann Hui takes a deeply humanistic approach to a harrowing and urgent subject with searing contemporary resonance.

Film Info

  • Hong Kong
  • 1982
  • 109 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.85:1
  • Cantonese, Japanese
  • Spine #1113

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New, restored 4K digital transfer, approved by director Ann Hui, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New conversation between Hui and filmmaker Stanley Kwan, who was the movie’s assistant director
  • Keep Rolling, a 2020 documentary about Hui made by Man Lim-chung, Hui’s longtime production designer and art director
  • As Time Goes By, a 1997 documentary and self-portrait by Hui, produced by Peggy Chiao
  • Press conference from the 1983 Cannes International Film Festival
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: Essays by film critic Justin Chang and scholar Vinh Nguyen

    New cover by Eric Skillman

Purchase Options

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New, restored 4K digital transfer, approved by director Ann Hui, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New conversation between Hui and filmmaker Stanley Kwan, who was the movie’s assistant director
  • Keep Rolling, a 2020 documentary about Hui made by Man Lim-chung, Hui’s longtime production designer and art director
  • As Time Goes By, a 1997 documentary and self-portrait by Hui, produced by Peggy Chiao
  • Press conference from the 1983 Cannes International Film Festival
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: Essays by film critic Justin Chang and scholar Vinh Nguyen

    New cover by Eric Skillman
Boat People
Cast
George Lam
Shiomi Akutagawa
Season Ma
Cam Nuong
Cora Miao
Bar/Café owner
Andy Lau
To Minh
Hao Jia-Ling
Cam Nuong’s mother
Qi Meng-Shi
Comrade Nguyen
Jia Mei-Ying
Le Van Quyen
Lin Shu-Jin
Comrade Vu
Guo Jun-Yi
Van Lang
Wu Shu-Jun
Van Nhac
Cheung Tung-Sing
Doctor
Credits
Director
Ann Hui
Assistant directed by
Stanley Kwan
Story by
Tin Goh
Written by
Chiu Kang-Chien
Produced by
Hsia Meng
Director of photography
Wong Chung-Gei
Edited by
Kin Kin
Art direction by
Tony Au Ting-Ping
Costume design by
Wong Saan-Ngai
Music by
Law Wing-Fai

Current

Boat People: Persistence of Vision
Boat People: Persistence of Vision

The fourth feature by the Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui devastatingly lays bare the conditions that spurred hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese to flee after the fall of Saigon.

By Justin Chang

Boat People: Becoming Refugees
Boat People: Becoming Refugees

In centering the perspectives of refugees, Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui created a work of political solidarity that stands in contrast to the dehumanizing cinematic depictions of Vietnam from the period.

By Vinh Nguyen