The Hong Kong Social Movement Film Festival is back with local documentaries on topics close to our hearts, writes Winnie Yeung

With several film festivals coming up this October and November in Hong Kong, it is easy to have overlooked a small-scale film festival called Hong Kong Social Movement Film Festival. Currently in its seventh year, this festival is well known among activists and students, presenting documentaries that tell us the whole truth, and nothing but, about our society. This year, it is showing films about a variety of disadvantaged people, from hawkers counting their last days at the Graham Street Market, to villagers at Choi Yuen Village who have been forced to evacuate so that the government can build a fancy rail line to China. The programming is not limited to Hong Kong—films about the social reality of Taiwan, China and Paris are also being shown, giving us a glimpse into lives abroad. Here are our picks.

Ga Ham, Nui Ching (Hong Kong)
It’s almost guaranteed that each person who works at the oldest existing street market in Hong Kong has a story. Katty Law at Central and Western Districts Concern Group captures these tales on film, hoping to show how the Urban Renewal Authority, which is about to demolish the market for redevelopment, is not merely tearing down concrete buildings in the area, but destroying a decades-old community.
Sat, Oct 31, 9pm, outside Hoi Wan Restaruant, 28 Gage St., Central; Wed, Nov 25, 7:30pm, 2/F, 600 Shanghai St., Mong Kok. 55 minutes, Cantonese with Chinese subtitles.

Hong Pai Gang Du (Taiwan)
The Taiwan International Workers Association provided video cameras to truck drivers and asked them to film their daily lives, while documenting the process with another set of cameras. The end result is a documentary that sheds light on the everyday lives of a group of particularly disadvantaged people in Taiwan society.
Thu, Nov 12, 7:30pm, Cultural Square, Chinese University, Sha Tin.

Raging Iron: Choi Yuen Village (Hong Kong)
You have probably heard enough from us on the topic of the frivolous high-speed railway, but here is a recap if you’re just joining us: In order to build a $63 billion high-speed railway link between Hong Kong and Guangzhou, the government has decided to demolish Choi Yuen Village in Shek Kong. Filmmakers Benny Chan and Tang Yu-yeung have made a film investigating the rail lines, the lives of the villagers and whether the government decision to move them sheds a wider insight on their policies toward rural areas. One screening of the film will take place in Choi Yuen Village.
Sat, Nov 14, 7:30pm, Choi Yuen Village, Shek Kong (take bus 54 or 77K or green minibus 608 from exit C of Kam Sheung Road MTR station); Sat, Nov 21, 7:30pm, HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity, 135 Junction Rd., Kowloon City.

The 7th Hong Kong Social Movement Film Festival is on now until Nov 26.
Free entry. Details at www.smrc8a.org/smff2009. Since the film festival is organized with very limited funding, they welcome donations
(Bank of China account: 012-678-0-002185-7).