Strong women run throughout this issue. It is International Women’s Day today, after all.
In our cover story, Salomé Grouard meets filmmaker Elizabeth Lo, whose documentary Mistress Dispeller was shortlisted in December for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar – a first in the category for a Hong Kong director. The film explores China’s strange and little-known industry of “mistress dispellers”, professionals hired to end extramarital affairs. What I found extraordinary was the sensitivity with which Lo approaches the subject. “We never took it for granted,” she says of the participants’ trust.
Another woman looking beneath the surface is marine researcher Apple Chui Pui-yi, whose work in coral spawning and restoration is helping rebuild reefs and restore a marine ecosystem many of us never knew the city had. Fun fact? Hong Kong has more corals than the Caribbean. I know, I couldn’t believe it either when she told me.
