How Hong Kong and London Merge in Nicolee Tsin’s Work

HOKO Cafe at the Shoreditch end of Brick Lane represents an experience woven from Hong Kong memories - nostalgic, homely and an absolute cult classic. Regardless, I’ve never been. And neither was I planning the trek, even with the knowledge of their iconic french toast and milk tea. 

That was, until director Nicolee Tsin’s film launched its reopening - ‘HOKO Cafe Home Again’ were the words that accompanied the fast-paced, unforgettable showcase of the soul of Brick Lane and this iconic business. And, I wasn’t the only one impressed. “HOKO was my make or break moment,” says Nicolee. “Crazy to think that we shot it last year in November, put it out three months ago in June and now I’ve already done a Tesco TVC with BBH. If I hadn’t done HOKO, I wouldn’t be seen in the commercial space.”

The love and labour put into the film are evident. This time last year, Nicolee was going through a rough patch with her work and filmmaking, as well as the pace of her career. Comparison is the mother of all doubt, so naturally, she compared herself to others that started at the same time as her.

“They had already moved on to directing commercials,” she remembers. “I had a new home, so that was cool, but I needed more work in my reel. So I said, ‘Okay, let me make this passion project to show what I can do’.” Show she did, because once you watch HOKO, you will be totally hooked on the radiant innocence, fast pace and just genuinely fresh feeling of Nicolee’s work. 

Coincidentally, Nicolee had already written a script based in a Hong Kong cafe in the UK, and tucked it away in a folder for dark days. Prior to last year, HOKO had mostly been doing online and market sales before, and were now opening their pop-up on Brick Lane. So, it was the perfect opportunity to shoot there. “Instead of producing the full short, which would have required a much larger budget, I turned the first page into a 60-second spot and pitched them the idea.”

The script was infused with Nicolee’s need to represent her and her culture - she grew up in Hong Kong, speaks Cantonese fluently, and has also lived in London for the past 10 years. “There are many people like me - some born and raised here, some of dual heritage and ethnicity, yet we rarely see Cantonese speakers on screen.”

She continues: “There’s also hundreds of Chinese restaurants here, yet, again, we rarely see our food and stories get told on screen. So, this project was made to celebrate anyone here who has a connection to our home, to our food, to our language and to our people.”

Nicolee moved to London when she was only 18, and she remembers the experience of first trip being ‘eye-opening’. She felt a real love for the city - the music, the art scene, the parties, the way people dress and the ability to exist as you are. Naturally, London introduced her to its weird and wonderful crowd, and it wasn’t long before it also influenced her work.

“At first, I wanted to make work that would fit in here and cater to the British audience, but you can’t deny where you come from,” she says. “I embrace who I am at heart. I bring the Hong Kong flavour to London and that is what makes my work unique.” 

In Nicolee’s ideal world, she would be Wong Kar Wai visually and Ken Loach narratively - colours richly infused with emotion and poetic cinematography grouped with British ‘social realist’ cinema.

“I think here, in London, people respect traditions in their craft and they’re willing to give new talents a try and that’s what I felt was missing back home,” Nicolee continues. “What I do miss is the landscape - Hong Kong is a naturally cinematic place and it will forever impact the way I see and feel things visually.”

To this end, Nicolee will always carry the memory of Hong Kong through her work, along with the rest of the inspirations that made her the artist and filmmaker she is today. Ever since she was young, she was occupied with creating in all forms - collages from magazines, writing plays, designing her Xanga, taking pictures and editing them in Photoshop.

Her family influenced this vision too - a musical father, a fashion-forward sister and a mom with incredible taste are what helped Nicolee  start shaping her own creative foundations from early on. While she didn’t enjoy books as a kid (way too many words), she totally loved magazines and would collect copious amounts of fashion and photography ones.

“I remember I also liked Andy Warhol a lot - his super punchy colours and graphics. I guess in some way, my work is quite colourful too. Music is another important source of inspiration - probably the most important one. It has always helped me get in tune with my feelings and I can’t create without it.”

When looking at Nicolee’s portfolio of work, though, ‘colourful’ is too weak of a word. There’s something else there - something beyond the simple descriptors - that just helps bare the talent and pure, natural creative vision underneath. “I’ve been told recently that there’s a sense of innocence across my work,” notes Nicolee. “And I can see that. Maybe it’s because I’m sentimental and I like to create things out of nostalgia.”

“I’m also a child at heart and I think that is reflected in my work. But I’m still on my way to figuring out the themes in my narratives. I know food and romance will be recurring. I love films rooted in magic realism, anything that’s a mixed genre based on an interesting human relationship and has an angle on the power dynamics in society.”

Nicolee’s background in music videos was part of the reason why today she knows what she likes and dislikes visually. Learning how to pitch and work with labels, talent and commissioners, as well as how to communicate ideas while staying collaborative were just a handful of the lessons she picked up from those days of her career. 

“As a music video director you have to respect the format and the music,” she says. “It’s the artist first, then you. When you’re both aligned, then you create magic - and some directors do it so well.”

“I would do it for an artist and I track that I love, but I think I’m looking to make more than pure performance videos,” she says. There is also something to be said about the ‘artist first, then you’ mentality that is necessary in music video work that Nicolee was probably not so keen on, as somebody who loves creating their own narrative.

This can be seen in the work from very early on in her career. After university, Nicolee naturally fell into film (even though she didn’t study it), because she couldn’t get any junior roles in 3D or animation (her actual degree). The only ones that got back to her were Agile and Blink, who offered an in-house internship. At that point Nicolee was still trying to find her own pulse, so she thought being a director of photography sounded good. So, she became a camera trainee.

From there she started working at the rental house and film studio, where she’d constantly be on set. “Slowly, I realised I was much more drawn to directing. I wanted to create my own work. I had this feeling of jealousy whenever I saw a director’s work. It suddenly hit me that that’s what I wanted to do.” And that’s what she did - on the side, with her own money. 

Self-shooting most of her earliest work, Nicolee started building a portfolio. During the start of the pandemic, she got introduced to producer Micheal Newton by her good friend and incredible editor, Amy Dang, and soon enough, the stars aligned. This is when Lowkey Films and OB management started sending her music video briefs to pitch on, which kick started her career in directing.

Commercials, though, felt better. They felt like they were part of the journey. “Learning and refining my craft through music videos, and now commercials all played into my future. Plus, I figured that if I made commercials I could earn the freedom and time to write and make narrative films. Before joining KODE I was seeing a lot of low budget music video briefs, which was good for building my reel, but it did begin to make me doubt myself.”

Some of the questions she’d have to ask herself then were ones plenty of other junior directors and directors of minority backgrounds have also been forced to ask: “Why wouldn’t people trust me with the bigger budgets both in music and commercials? I knew I could win bigger projects. I’m so grateful to everyone at KODE for supporting me this year working with Beats, Nike, Football Beyond Borders and to BBH and Tesco for taking a chance on me with my first TVC.” 

Nike in particular was an experience to remember for Nicolee - she got to work with the Lionesses, who she already admired. “It was scary as hell,” she says. “I was fan girl-ing so hard and was actually quite nervous, but everyone was super lovely and humble.”

The project featured organisation Football Beyond Borders and the nation’s favourite Chicken Shop Date, Amelia Dimz, interviewing young women pursuing football alongside the Lionesses. “Amelia is a professional, the FBB girls are so brave and being able to see a more human side to the Lionesses so up-close was very inspiring,” remembers Nicole. “Shout out to Liv West and Amelia Dimz for bringing me on board. They gave me an open brief with a lot of creative freedom to do what I wanted. We got to develop the script and story together, it was a great collaborative process.”

All in all, the future for Nicolee is bright. Looking ahead, she says: “I hope in ten years time I’m making films and telling stories that will make people feel something. You know that feeling after watching a film, whether good or bad, you want to have a full on conversation about it because it made an impact. That’s what I want and that’s all I can ask for.”

Don’t tell her, but she’s already succeeded at that. Now, I’m off for some french toast at HOKO Cafe.