Directed by Kees Schaap • Documentary • 2016 • 42 minutes

Fidan travels to Hong Kong, where the free press is slowly being silenced by communist China.

According to Shirley Yam of the Hong Kong Journalist Association it is like boiling a frog: “If you boil the water slowly the frogs doesn’t notice, until it’s fully cooked and ready to be eaten”. Hong Kong is formally part of the Peoples Republic of China, but when the British handed over the islands to China in 1997 it was negotiated that the former Crown Colony would keep its democracy and legislation for 50 years to come.

When in 2014 China interfered in the election process, the Hong Kong inhabitants revolted in the Umbrella Revolution which lasted for three months. But they achieved nothing.
Press freedom in Hong Kong is diminishing ever since. Cyber attacks are organized against online news outlets. Newspapers are bought by investment tycoons from mainland China. Critical reporters are fired. Some are beaten up in the streets. Some vanish mysteriously. The result is a climate of fear amongst Hong Kongers and journalists. Fortunately, Fidan also meets reporters that won’t be scared off or intimidated, like the female radio host Li Wei Ling.

Series Description:

A daughter of Turkish immigrants in The Netherlands, Fidan Ekiz studied journalism. She was a news correspondent in Turkey for some years. Upon her return to the The Netherlands, Fidan started making documentaries and became a television celebrity.