Category III

The 1990s were a notorious period in the history Hong Kong cinema. By turns gory sexualised, violent and just plain outrageous, Category III films quickly gained a reputation as cult films. As often in extreme exploitation movies, these films challenged a whole range of societal norms and French critic Julien Sévéon will explore the taboo breaking aspects of Category III films that has made them such a cultish draw for so many. Examining films before and after the handover of Hong Kong to China, Dr Calum Waddell (University of Lincoln) will interrogate the ways in which these films seem to foreshadow the current political crisis in Hong Kong. We will also be joined by Dr Victor Fan(King’s College, London) who will turn his wide-ranging expertise in Chinese cinema and politics on to the crazy, bizarre and confrontational world of Category III.