Heat Room | 熱室

Logline 故事摘要
This documentary tells the story of a group of residents of subdivided flats over several years. They struggle under the oppression of the times, yet live their daily lives with dignity. 

紀錄片呈現了過去幾年間一群板房住客的故事。他們在時間的擠壓中掙扎，卻仍在日常裡保有自主性地生活。

Synopsis 故事大綱
In a building in Hong Kong, more than 400 households live in the so-called “sub-divided units”, where each household has only a narrow cubicle enclosed by four wooden boards, with shared bathrooms and kitchens. This vertical documentary is a collective portrait of the residents in the same building. The shared room rented by several Filipino domestic helpers becomes their weekly refuge; the mentally challenged daughter who takes care of her elderly mother and earns money by recycling garbage in the building; the child who grew up with a non-Hong Kong mother studying and playing on the back staircase; the middle-aged man who came to Hong Kong from mainland China in a failed quest for wealth; and the security guard who fights depression by painting with vibrant colours…
These characters exist in parallel worlds, each facing their own challenges and dreams, occasionally intersecting in brief moments of connection and understanding. Set in everyday life from 2019 to 2023, the film captures the bittersweet nature of human resilience, loneliness, and the search for a sense of belonging in a diverse urban landscape.

在香港的一棟老舊大廈裡，有超過400個住戶生活在叫「板間房」的單位裡：那種只用木板圍起四面牆，廚廁需要共用的狹窄房間。這部紀錄片是一個同一棟大廈住戶的眾生相。一個共享的房間，成為極為菲傭的週末被難所；一名智力障礙女兒照顧著年邁的母親且依靠在大廈裡回收垃圾賺錢；在非本地媽媽下成長的小孩學習及遊玩於後樓梯；中年男人從內地來港卻致富失敗；還有透過繪畫鮮豔色彩去對抗抑鬱症的保安⋯⋯這些角色存在於平行時空，各自面對他們自己的挑戰與夢想，偶爾一些片語瞬間會相會於那些交錯和互相理解。由2019至2023的日常紀錄，本片捕捉了那些苦樂參半的人生韌性、孤獨，以及在這多樣化的城市景觀中尋找歸屬感。

Director’s Statement 導演闡述
The idea of this film is to document a collective portrait. The goal is not to portray the lifestyle in subdivided flats, but to depict how people cope with, imagine and construct their lives in the confines of a stifling space. Through observing moments in their daily lives, we can extrapolate their stories, and reflect on how the delicate things in life such as community, families, friends and their dreams for their future all get tangled up and impact their lives.

本片拍攝的意念是希望紀錄一個眾生相。目標並不是要刻畫板房住客的生活方式，而是描繪人們如何在這封閉且窒息的空間中，應對、想像及建立他們的生活。透過觀察他們日常生活的碎片，我們能夠推斷出他們的故事，同時反映那些生命中的如社區、家庭、朋友和夢想這些細微的事情如何全部匯聚在一起而影響著他們的生活。

Chan Hau Chun 陳巧真
Chan Hau-chun is an independent filmmaker and Multimedia artist based in Hong Kong. Graduated from the City University of Hong Kong in 2015, her work, 32+4 was nominated for Golden Horse Best Documentary in 2015 and was awarded the Principal Prize in the International Category of the 61st International Short Film Festival Oberhausen.

陳巧真畢業於香港城市大學，現為獨立電影工作者及多媒體創作者。作品《32+4》曾入圍2015年金馬獎最佳紀錄片和榮獲第61屆德國奧柏豪森短片影展(國際競賽單元)Principal Prize。

Chui Chi Yin 徐智彥
Chui Chi Yin is an independent documentary filmmaker.  His work Jacky was nominated for the Hong Kong Documentary Award at the Chinese Documentary Festival. He then co-directed Call Me Mrs. Chan with dir. Chan Hau Chun, which won the First Runner-up at the 10th Chinese Documentary Award and Special Mention at ifva. Another co-directed experimental film, No Song To Sing, was a finalist at the South Taiwan Film Festival.

獨立紀錄片工作者。作品《韋成奇》入圍華語紀錄片節香港紀錄片獎。與陳巧真導演聯合執導的《叫我陳太》，獲第10屆華語紀錄片節短片組亞軍及第23屆ifva特別表揚。另一聯合執導實驗短片《無調人間》入選台灣南方影展。

Peter Yam 任硯聰
Peter Yam is a Hong Kong independent film producer and member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The works he produced were awarded the Ogawa Shinsuke Award at the Yamagata International Documentary Festival, the Best Documentary Award at HotDocs, the Best Documentary at the Golden Horse Awards and selected for the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, etc. 

香港獨立監製、美國電影藝術與科學學院會員。監製作品曾獲山形國際紀錄片節小川紳介獎、加拿大國際紀錄片節最佳紀錄片獎、金馬獎最佳紀錄片及入圍阿姆斯特丹紀錄片電影節等。