Modern Films Production

HKNY was inspired by Italo Calvino’s novel Invisible Cities. Garcia draws on the concept of in-betweenness to construct a story of an individual (the filmmaker) reflecting on his position between Hong Kong, his birthplace, and New York, where he resides.

Director Roger Garcia drew inspiration from Close to Our Hearts, a script he wrote after returning to Hong Kong from the United Kingdom in 1977. Although the project never materialised because of a lack of funding and resources, Garcia adapted its elements—character lines, location shots, references to other films, portraits of a harpist—for this essay film, which traces a disintegrating relationship between a Chinese musician and his English wife, a photographer. Ruminating on the liminal space between text and image, Garcia seeks new ways of looking at a ceaselessly evolving city.