HONG KONG — After months of public unrest and criticism that she was ignoring the demands of protesters, Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, came face to face on Thursday with the fury and frustration coursing through the city during a question-and-answer session billed as a community dialogue.

Inside a stadium ringed by hundreds of chanting protesters, Mrs. Lam, the Hong Kong chief executive, acknowledged the widespread anger after 16 weeks of protests that have presented the government with its biggest political challenge in decades.

“In recent days, the people have lost trust in the police and the government. This is hard to fathom but it is a reality,” she said. “In a time when trust is lacking, we need to have a dialogue with one another.”

Many of the 70 people randomly chosen to ask questions among the 150 allowed inside were visibly emotional, and they did not mince words, harshly criticizing Mrs. Lam and at times ending their allotted three minutes by reciting a phrase often heard during raucous street protests: “Five demands, not one less.”