One story, in a sea of millions, of swimming from China to freedom in Hong Kong

Between 1950 and 1980, an estimated 2 million people fled China for Hong Kong by traversing some 5 miles of perilous waters. Countless others were captured and sent to labour camps, or died trying. For this documentary project, the Australian director Olivia Martin-McGuire, who is based in London, collected the stories of many of these so-called ‘freedom swimmers’ and weaved them into a single narrative to protect the identities of those she interviewed. Written from the perspective of a grandfather speaking to his granddaughter in modern-day Hong Kong, the film shows how fear and desperation drove so many into the South China Sea. Expressing the weight of oppression and secrecy through dark and vivid animations, the animation team is also left anonymous and uncredited, for their safety. Intercutting these visuals with footage from the 2019-20 Hong Kong protests, Martin-McGuire draws parallels between the traumatic past and the turbulent present, when crackdowns from mainland China have sought to rein in freedoms and extinguish dissent in the region.