Cicada Cycle (2024)

Leaving can be seen positively as exploration.’ In 2003, 17-year-old Form 4 student To Ka To, AKA Tomato, experienced a tremendous change in her life. Within a short period of time, Tomato saw her parents divorce and her family fall into ruin. She had to stay with another family and change school from an international school to the traditional Ying Ching Secondary School. Through it all, Tomato held onto her dream of leaving home and Hong Kong and escaping to the beautiful foreign land in her imagination. Later, Tomato met a juvenile offender called Siu Ching at the new school… To realise their dreams, Tomato and Siu Ching joined an amateur theatre group and rehearsed a stage play revolving around the theme of going or staying. However, the SARS outbreak occurred while they were working hard to prepare for the play… ‘Leaving can also be seen negatively as running away.’ 17 years later, Tomato returns to Hong Kong after hearing that her father fell ill because of the COVID-19 virus. Meanwhile, Tomato, who’s feeling lonely, and Siu Ching are contacted by Director Auyeung Dong. The director wants to revive the stage play that was stopped because of the SARS outbreak and fulfil their dream of getting on that stage in 2003. ‘Life is a circle. At some point, the cycle will repeat.’ Between two virus outbreaks is a cycle of good luck and bad luck in life. People come and go on the tracks of life, but you will always find someone willing to walk with you at the same pace.