![]() ![]() The mass migration of film talent to mainland China has left a “vacuum” in Hong Kong, said Shu Kei, former dean of film and television at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Shanghai’s old cinemas tell of a power reversal between China and HollywoodĬhina, the world’s largest box office, is using its market power to influence Hollywood and project the Communist Party’s voice. A growing portion of them are co-productions with mainland Chinese companies that are careful to avoid Beijing’s disapproval. Hong Kong films released in theaters dwindled from hundreds per year in the 1990s to several dozen in 2020. Many moviemakers headed north, hollowing out the filmmaking scene in Hong Kong. That brought vast commercial opportunity: Chinese audiences, budgets and revenues were much larger than for Hong Kong productions. Many directors and screenwriters have become skilled at navigating censors’ demands in order to gain access to the mainland Chinese market, which opened to Hong Kong actors and filmmakers in 2003. But self-censorship had for years been creeping into Hong Kong’s movie industry. The new law would bring direct political censorship not seen since colonial times to Hong Kong. Whether his vision matches reality is another question. If the screening had featured Chow’s protest documentary, they could have been fined HK$1 million and imprisoned for up to three years, according to a law proposed by the Hong Kong government in August.ĭreams of a Red Emperor: The relentless rise of Xi JinpingĬhina’s paramount leader, Xi Jinping, sees himself as a savior, anointed to steer the Communist Party and China away from corruption and foreign influence, into a ‘new era’ of prosperity, power and political devotion. Chow, undeterred, went on with his talk.īy midnight, police had shut down the screening, fining each attendee HK$5,000, or about $640, for violating social distancing rules. But the audience took note when two dozen police officers arrived. Hardly a story line that would provoke dissent or violate a national security law. His new work was an apolitical tale about a schizophrenic man who falls in love with a psychological counselor. He was a politically sensitive figure who’d made films about Hong Kong’s protests and China’s crackdown on the city’s liberties. Several dozen friends had gathered in the office of a local district councilor to watch the movie and hear Chow speak. It was a private screening of a romance film by Kiwi Chow. The director kept his eyes on the audience, ignoring the cops in the back of the room. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |