Herman Yau’s filmmaking in We’re Nothing at All is driven by curiosity about how stories move between truth and structure. Fragments of a real case, a few mentions of a policeman and a gay couple found online, became, in his hands, a loose framework to build the story. Instead of making a film strictly based on the real events, he saw it as something flexible that could hold different social realities.

From Hong Kong’s own issues to broader questions that could exist in any country, he made the film as something adaptable. Even his decision to self-finance the project came from this same instinct: to protect the film’s identity as something he felt strongly was a “Hong Kong film,” even if that definition itself remains open and debated.

During the interview, I clearly saw how carefully Yau thinks about rhythm and structure when it comes to this particular film. For him, pacing is not added later in editing – it is built into the writing itself, almost like composing music. He compares it to deciding the rhythm of a song: once you set the structure, it naturally determines what the story can hold. That is why this film moves differently from his earlier action-heavy work like Shock Wave. 

For Anson Kong, the project began from a very different place. Meeting Herman while the script was still forming, he was drawn in by the fact that the story was inspired by real events, but also challenged by how distant the character felt from his own life. Rather than immediately identifying with the role, he and the director slowly built it from the inside out, exploring loneliness, emotional emptiness, and the absence of early human connection. He is not described by his sexuality, but by loneliness and a strong need to be seen and understood. In that process, Anson’s performance was not fixed from the start; it evolved as he learned more, with each stage of filming changing how he understood the character’s emotional journey and transformation.

During the Far East Film Festival, we sat down with Herman Yau and Anson Kong to discuss the film, Yau’s experience of self-financing the project, and Anson’s perspective on his character and its evolution.

VOA: Herman Yau, what inspired you to make this film?

Herman Yau: I came across details and information about the case online. There was information about a policeman and also a gay couple, but only a few lines about them. I used those elements as a kind of container or framework for the script. From there, I added Hong Kong social issues and real local events into that framework to build the story. I think this kind of structure could also work for other scripts in different countries. 

What I mean is that if an American or Italian screenwriter used the same framework, they could inject their own local issues and social realities into it, creating a similar story with completely different details and cultural context.

FEFF Talk: This is your first really self-founded production. This is quite unusual in Hong Kong. How did you manage to do that?

Herman Yau: Over the past seven years, I have made several so-called co-productions. Usually, that term refers to films co-financed by investors from both Hong Kong and mainland China. In Hong Kong, however, some audiences do not really consider these films to be “Hong Kong films.” After making several of these large-scale productions, I felt a strong desire to return to making a true Hong Kong film. 

Of course, the definition of a “Hong Kong film” is actually quite vague. Personally, even some of the co-productions I directed, I still consider them Hong Kong films. But not everyone agrees with that definition, especially because those films can still be screened in mainland China.

At one point, I had the idea that I wanted to make a film that would not be allowed to screen in mainland China. Traditionally, in Hong Kong cinema, themes involving gay couples or Category III content are considered commercially risky. In Hong Kong, audiences under 18 are not allowed to watch Category III films in cinemas. Because the film includes LGBTQ+ themes, it also would not be allowed to screen in mainland China. In addition, those same elements would likely prevent release in places like Singapore and Malaysia as well.

That made it very difficult to secure investors. Eventually, I realised the easiest way to solve the problem was to finance the film myself. So in the end, I became the investor for the movie.

VOA: Anson, let’s talk about casting and how you came across this project.

Anson Kong: In late  2024, through a mutual friend, I met Herman when the script was still incomplete. At the time, he shared the story with me and explained that it would include love scenes and homosexual themes. When I heard that it was inspired by a real bombing case, I became very intrigued and wanted to learn more about the project. We continued discussing it over the next five to six months, and eventually, after my management gave the all-clear, I decided to join the film.

VOA: Did you ever think about playing Ike instead? 

Anson Kong: I honestly don’t know – I never really thought about playing Ike’s character myself. From the very beginning, when I first spoke with director Herman, we were already discussing the role of Yiu-Fai. So all of my research and the way I developed and shaped the character were always focused on my character.

At no point did I ever think, “Would it be better if I switched roles with Ike?” or “Maybe that character would suit me more.” I genuinely never thought about it that way. But whether the director ever considered casting me in another role, or possibly as Ike, that’s something only he would know.

VOA: I wanted to ask why you decided to make this film, and also about the way you approached its pacing and structure. Some people have said the film moves at a slower, more thoughtful pace. You have moments of action, but also very intimate and subtle scenes between the two central characters. The film balances themes of crime, real-life events, and LGBTQ+ relationships without allowing one element to overpower the other. So how did you decide when to slow things down and let scenes breathe? And how did you balance the action and crime elements with the emotional and thematic moments between the characters?

Herman Yau: Actually, I think there is a kind of technique during the scriptwriting stage in terms of how you present the story to the audience, or even to the readers of the script. In fact, the narration style of this movie is not really something new. You can see similar storytelling structures in films like *The Godfather Part II*, with Robert De Niro and Marlon Brando. It has that kind of narrative approach. When it comes to the tempo and pacing of a film, I already start thinking about that during the script stage. I cannot completely separate pacing from the writing process, because pacing affects the length and structure of the script itself.

For example, it’s a bit like music – if you decide on a certain rhythm or number of choruses in a song, then the amount of content you can include within that structure becomes limited. So from the beginning, I already had a rough idea about the pacing of this film. Compared to the action films I made previously, I knew this film needed to move more slowly. It had to be more subtle.

For films like Shock Wave, for example, everything moves very quickly – bam, bam, bam. But with this film, while I didn’t want it to become as slow as an art film, I still wanted the audience to really sit with the drama and experience it emotionally. I wanted to give the audience moments to breathe, instead of constantly pushing them forward without pause.

VOA: You mentioned earlier that because of the LGBTQ+ themes in the film, it would never be allowed to screen in mainland China and possibly in some other countries as well. As a filmmaker, were you worried that making a film like this could affect your future career or even make it harder for you to secure financing for future projects? Especially since you ended up investing in the film yourself because of the subject matter.

Herman Yau: As far as I understand, no. If you look at directors like Jia Zhangke or Zhang Yimou, even when they crossed certain lines, they remained very active in the film industry. Of course, it depends on which line you cross. For this film, I think it’s okay.

VOA: I just really appreciated that you included those elements in the film and stood your ground creatively – that you chose to put something into the story because you felt it was important and right for the film.

VOA: Anson, I would love to know how close you work with director Yao in shaping your character’s arc, especially in more powerful moments in the film.

Anson Kong: When I first met the director, I was already very intrigued by the character, especially because he explained that the story was inspired by a real-life case. As I learned more about the character, I realised his personality and outlook on life were completely different from my own experiences. There was actually very little I could personally relate to. So together with the director, we tried to dig deeper into who he was as a person. We explored his childhood trauma and how, as he grew up, he gradually isolated himself from others because he had nobody he truly felt he could talk to.

One very important aspect we discussed was that the character does not begin as someone defined by his sexuality. Instead, he is simply an extremely lonely person – someone who never really learned what love or friendship felt like. There is a huge emotional void in his life, and he spends much of his time trying to fill that emptiness with love and connection.

So when Ike enters his life, he fills that void for him, and that is how the two characters connect. In many ways, they become soulmates. Their bond is not really about sexual identity, but about two people finding emotional connection and understanding in each other.

VOA: Was there a moment during filming when your understanding of the character changed? As you were working on the film and getting to know the character more deeply, did your approach to portraying him evolve from how you originally imagined him at the beginning? In other words, while you were filming, did your interpretation of the character shift or develop over time as you discovered more about him on set?

Anson Kong: As I got deeper into the role, my understanding of the character also evolved. I discovered that the character was trying to break free from a certain emotional or psychological state, and that discovery gradually shaped and changed the way I portrayed him.

VOA: How much freedom did you give your actors during the filming process? Did they have room to improvise, or did they mainly follow the script?

Herman Yau: Not really improvise. When I talk about “freedom,” I mean we would discuss things together and then arrive at a shared decision. For example, if I suggest that a character moves from here to there, I would usually ask the actor whether they feel comfortable with that movement or action. I always encourage them to give their opinions or comments during the process.

Written and interviewed by Maggie Gogler

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