An Asian Ghost Story

Wigs were vital for the rise of the Asian economy in the post-war era. In the heyday of the 1960s, it was the number four export in Hong Kong’s export-orientated industrialization. Between Mao’s China – the largest source of hair supplies, and the insatiable Western market, Hong Kong functioned as the gateway. In every wig resides a ghost from the imperial past. Departing from a 1965 United States embargo on the hair trade, known as the “Communist Hair Ban” the film is about haunting memories of Asia’s late 20th-century modernization. “Part experimental, historical documentary, part anthropological fiction, An Asian Ghost Story focuses on Hong Kong’s wig industry to shed light on ghosts; ghosts from the stories of female factory workers, and the more insidious ghosts of capitalism and colonialism. From the moment the title appears, in such a typical font, in VHS picture definition, the film pays a subtle, playful homage to Hong Kong and its film culture; which used to matter but seems, much like its territory, to be stuck in an interzone with increasingly tight borders.” (Victor Bournerias)