June 12 marks the first anniversary of major clashes between protesters and the police in Hong Kong after its government introduced a controversial extradition bill. It was later withdrawn in the face of mounting opposition, but protests continue unabated. China has now passed a draft of a national security bill that further undermines the city's autonomy. Evans Chan has traced the evolution of Hong Kong’s resistance from the 2014 Umbrella Movement to the leaderless protests of 2019 in his engaging documentary We Have Boots. At the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2020, where the movie had its world premiere, Chan talked to Syed Saad Ahmed about the struggle against Chinese authoritarianism.
In the beginning of the movie, there is a reference to Martin Luther King’s strategy of non-violent resistance. In the latter part, however, there is an emphasis on militants who do not shy away from aggressive tactics. Do you feel non-violent resistance can only work up to a...
