Kowloon Walled City Documentary (English Subtitles)

South Sider
9 HN recommenders · recommended in 9 months, 2011–2026
YouTube
910K views · 10 years ago · documentary · historical

A documentary on Kowloon Walled City, the dense, unplanned settlement in Hong Kong that housed tens of thousands of people. This version has English subtitles and footage taken inside the buildings.

HN rates it among the better Kowloon documentaries because it shows everyday life rather than sensationalism.

“A really good documentary (in German, but you'll get the drift) with lots of casual, non-sensational footage”
ArchitectureUrban design & public space
#kowloonwalledcity#hongkong#densehousing#informalarchitecture#documentary

13 comments from Hacker News

m
@michaelx2014 · in “Kowloon Walled City”
I‘m also fascinated by Kowloon Walled City since the first time I saw it in the Dreamcast game Shenmue 2. One of the best documentaries IMHO is the following 4 part series from 1989 which shows the everyday life in KWC: ▶ this video I also recommend the already mentioned book City of Darkness and movie Chungking Express. Additional Jackie Pullinger‘s books "Crack In The Wall: Life & Death in Kowloon Walled City" (link) and "Chasing the Dragon" (link) are worth a read.
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@exvi2026 · in “Hong Kong's Secret City: A Labyrinth for 50,000 People (1989) [video]”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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@thunderbong2026 · in “Kowloon Walled City Documentary (English Subtitles) [video]”
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p
@peteforde2024 · in “A cross-section illustration reveals the happenings of Kowloon Walled City”
A really good documentary (in German, but you'll get the drift) with lots of casual, non-sensational footage: ▶ this video
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c
@chriscjcj2024 · in “Kowloon Walled City: Heterotopia in a Space of Disappearance (2013)”
▶ this video This is one of the better documentaries out there about Kowloon. It's in German but you can turn on English subtitles. They got a camera inside and you get a decent taste of what life was like there.
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h
@hyperific2024 · in “Kowloon Walled City Documentary 1989 [video]”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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@tangue2020 · in “Kowloon Walled City (1988)”
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t
@theklub2015 · in “Kowloon Walled City: City of Darkness Revisited”
Austrian documentary about it Worth watching > ▶ this video
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t
@theklub2014 · in “Detailed Cross-section of the Kowloon Walled City”
Awesome documentary on Kowloon. ▶ this video
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o
@olalonde2011 · in “Kowloon Walled City”
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@aasasd2020 · in “The Strange Saga of Kowloon Walled City”
Pretty sure she's shown in the documentary: ▶ this video
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a
@aasasd2020 · in “The Strange Saga of Kowloon Walled City”
There's a sort of a documentary on Kowloon, from back in the day: ▶ this video
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