Local media have reported that Hong Kong censors have banned the award-winning animated film.
Loss of sight from a long place, an eight-minute film about the struggles of a gay young man in Hong Kong, was to be shown Sunday at a local screening of the film organized by the Ground Up Film Association.
The film’s makers said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that the film was pulled from show after they refused to provide a numbered copy. The post did not mention the scene that the observers had asked them to remove.
The film was completely rejected by the Bureau of Film, Newspaper and Article Management – They announced.
According to local media, the filmmakers were asked to remove a scene showing the 2014 Umbrella Revolution, which the government called only an “illegal occupation”. The Umbrella Revolution saw thousands of peaceful protesters occupy parts of the city’s central business district for months in 2014 to demand wider suffrage. The movement was dubbed the “Umbrella Revolution” because protesters used umbrellas to defend themselves against tear gas used by the police.
Created by three college students and published in 2017, the animation was previously supported by a government statement. Hong Kong has since cracked down on freedom of expression following mass anti-government riots in 2019. Last year, authorities passed a law on film censorship.
Content that is against the interests of Beijing’s national security law is banned and those who broadcast unauthorized content are punished with up to three years in prison.(Bloomberg)
