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Student in controversial Hong Kong documentary hits out at planned Italian screening

A student who featured in a controversial Hong Kong documentary has said she did not give her consent to it being shown at an Italian…

By Samantha Johnson / April 4, 2026
A student who featured in a controversial Hong Kong documentary has said she did not give her consent to it being shown at an Italian film festival, reiterating her objection to it being screened publicly.

Ah Ling, one of six students who featured in the coming-of-age documentary To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self, said she was only notified by Ying Wa Girls’ School on Friday that the film would be screened at the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, this month.

The school also did not address her concerns over whether sections featuring her had been taken out, she added.

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“I do not consent to the film being screened in any form,” she told pop culture magazine Wave.

She said no one had consulted her about the film being shown at the festival.

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The documentary, co-directed by Ying Wa alumna Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting, was part of a fundraising campaign by the prestigious school to reconstruct its campus. It tracked six students for a decade and featured their personal journeys amid turbulent times.

The work was released in February 2023, but was withdrawn from cinemas just a few days later after Ah Ling wrote to Ming Pao Weekly complaining that the film was screened without her consent.

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