A site of rapid redevelopment, the Hung Hom district of Hong Kong is home to the Kwun Yum temple, which attracts droves of devotees seeking financial betterment during the grandiose Treasury Opening Festival. Across the street, however, is a run-down yet lively block running a parallel economy consisting of recycling shops, illegal flea markets and modest restaurants, all on the verge of extinction.

In unobtrusive wide-angle shots, Wong Siu-pong’s finely observational street documentary Obedience casts a curious glance on this vulnerable microcosm. Sustaining this ecosystem is a group of elderly workers who patrol the area with their wheelbarrows, salvaging recyclable objects from garbage in order to exchange them for money. Without condescension or sentimentalism, the film documents the precarious life of these frail men and women, cast out of Hong Kong’s economic boom and left to fend for themselves by rummaging for food in bins.

The film’s socioeconomic and ecological enquiry is enriched by a subtly existentialist perspective that invites us to question the meaning of prosperity and well-being in a lopsided society. Looking beyond the glitz and glamour of Asia's World City, Obedience presents a face of Hong Kong rarely seen on screen.

– Srikanth Srinivasan