The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) today (22 June 2022) held a press conference to announce the launch of a series of short movies entitled “Under the Same Sky”. 

“Under the Same Sky” is a short movie series produced in collaboration with cross-media producer Steven MA Chun-wai. These movies depict experiences of prejudices and discrimination in different forms, and how these impact the lives and relationships of the people concerned. It is one of the major highlights of the citywide awareness and promotional campaign “Equal Opportunities Month: Together for an Equal and Inclusive Hong Kong” launched by the EOC in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Dr Ferrick CHU Chung-man, Executive Director (Operations) of the EOC said in his opening remarks, “To eliminate prejudice and stereotypes, legislation alone is not enough. We must also educate the public, so that they can have greater empathy and understand the needs and problems faced by those who are being discriminated. Further to producing a series of TV documentary drama based on real discrimination cases in the past years, the EOC is pleased to join hands with renowned cross-media producer Mr Steven MA to produce the short movie series. Rather than explaining the provisions of the anti-discrimination ordinances in details, what we intend to do is to focus on the feelings of prejudice and discrimination encountered by the characters, their pain and frustrations, within the few minutes of the short movies. Through this new approach, we are hoping to appeal to the emotions of the audience, and inspire them to learn more about, discuss and even speak out on the discrimination issues.”   

In a chit-chat session at the press conference with Mr Ricky CHU Man-kin, EOC Chairperson and Mr Steven MA, the producer, playwright and director of “Under the Same Sky”, moderated by Mr Gary WONG Chi-him, Convenor of Community Participation and Publicity Committee of the EOC, Mr CHU said, “This movie series will draw public attention to the difficulties encountered by pregnant women, people with disabilities, people from different races and people with family status, as well as people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The stories of the struggle of these people to overcome the challenges in their lives are very enlightening. We hope that the short movie series will initiate public discussion on how we may provide a more friendly and inclusive environment for everyone.” 

While introducing the stories of the movie series at the press conference, Mr Steven MA said, “The Under the Same Sky short movie series consists of eight episodes, each focusing on a specific topic about discrimination. The topics to be covered are disability, racial and breastfeeding discrimination and harassment; sexual harassment; pregnancy and family status discrimination; mental illness; and students with special educational needs, which are under the purview of the four anti-discrimination ordinances enforced by the EOC. We believe that these short movies could let the viewers understand the difficulties and feelings of the people who are being discriminated against and arouse their empathy.”

To promote the production, a theme song “I Believe” composed by local musician with visual impairment Mr LEE Hin, lyrics written by Ms CHEUNG Mei-yin and performed by Mr Steven MA was produced and it has been released for broadcast by local radio stations. The song’s touching music video debuted at today’s event. Members of the public can watch the music video from the following link: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4kxD8oNOvs   

Artistes to perform in the short movies, including Ms Zaina SZE, Mr Cliff CHAN, Ms Cynthia HO, Mr Ken LING, Ms Christine LAI, Ms Iris LO and Mr Matthew MA were present at the press conference today. They appreciated the opportunities to be involved in the production and hoped to learn more about equal opportunities and inclusion through the performances. 

The movie series is scheduled for release in autumn 2022 and the EOC is already planning on community and school screenings to bring the conversation about discrimination to different parts of the community.

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Equal Opportunities Commission
22 June 2022

Photo captions:

Mr Ricky CHU Man-kin, Chairperson of the EOC (centre), Mr Steven MA Chun-wai, producer, playwright and director of “Under the Same Sky” (left) and Mr Gary WONG Chi-him, Convenor of Community Participation and Publicity Committee of the EOC (right) shared their views on the advantages of using drama to promote equal opportunities and expectations of the short movie series “Under the Same Sky”.
 

A group photo with the EOC staff and artistes of the short movie series “Under the Same Sky”.