The diaspora, memory and identity : the films by Ann Hui

The aim of this article is to present the works of Ann Hui, one of the most eminent film directors of the Hong Kong New Wave. In her fi lms Hui focuses on such issues as memory, ethnic minorities, intercultural communication, and the impact of political factors on the characters’ everyday life. These problems are often addressed from a subjective or even autobiographical perspective, like in her most significant work, Song of the Exile, to which I devote most of my analysis. The film is a perfect illustration of a basic feature of the Hong Kong cinema of the late 20th century, namely, a particular attitude to time, a nostalgia best expressed by a notion of déjà disparu, or a “conviction that all that is new and unique nowadays has already come and gone, and there’s nothing left but clichés and the scraps of memories of the things that never existed” (Ackbar Abbas). The longing for the past that stems from a sense of loss and necessity to reconcile with the passing of things appears to be a characteristic feature not only of Chinese fi lm art, but of Chinese culture as such