Press Release: For immediate release
     Johua Wong, 黃之鋒, one of the student leaders of Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement 香港雨傘 運動will be visiting Southern California under the invitation of students and faculty members of a number of universities. 
    The first stop for Joshua Wong is University of Southern California on Friday, February 20.
time.jpg    Named as one of TIME Magazine's Most Influential Teenager of 2014 and nominated for TIME Magazine's 2014 Person of the Year, Joshua Wong was propelled into international attention during Hong Kong's 2014 Umbrella Movement when his arrest and the police's use of pepper spray against the non-violent protesters galvanized the citizens of Hong Kong in demanding the right to nominate and elect the chief executive of Hong Kong.
     The film, Lessons in Dissent, will be shown followed by Q&A with Joshua Wong and with Matthew Torne, the film's director. 
      The film is a vivid portrait of Hong Kong's young generation who demand to forge their own future in Hong Kong. 
      Before the Umbrella Movement of 2014, in 2012, 15 year old Joshua Wong led a campaign group of high school students, Scholarism, to oppose the government's introduction of brainwashing via a "National Education" program with the slogan, "I want independent thinking, not brainwashing".  17 year old Ma Jai 馬雲祺 , quit school to join a pro-democracy political party 社民連  in support of a candidate for the legislature to push for political reform.
      Filmed over 18 months, the film is a study of the passion, sweat and tears of the struggles of Hong Kong's youth, knowing that their fight is now, before Hong Kong completely loses its status of "One Country, Two Systems" in 2047.
       To attend the film screening and meet with Joshua Wong, please visit
            https://www.facebook.com/events/1411255462504048/
     The public is invited.
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For information: Ann Lau, Visual Artists Guild 310-433-0697