The Hong Kong protests documentary “Do Not Split” was nominated for best short film.
China told local media not to broadcast next month’s Oscar ceremony in real time and to minimize coverage of the awards, according to people familiar with the matter, after a documentary about the Hong Kong protests was nominated and in the middle to the concern with the political opinions of Best Candidate to the Director Chloe Zhao.
The Communist Party’s propaganda department issued the order to all media outlets, the people said, refusing to be identified due to the delicacy of the matter. The media have been told that Oscar coverage should focus on awards that are not seen as controversial, according to the people.
The order was also publicized by other media, including Radio Free Asia and the Hong Kong Apple Daily on Tuesday night. The information office of the State Council of China did not respond to a fax asking for comment.
Photographer: Amanda Edwards / Getty Images
“Do Not Split”, nominated for best short film, chronicles the anti-Beijing demonstrations that took place in Hong Kong in mid-2019 and the growing power and influence of China in former British territory. Directed by Norwegian videojournalist Anders Hammer, it has barely been covered in China, which maintains control over local and social media platforms within the country. Censorship orders are issued regularly by the government, which also examines posts on social media.
Although initially praised in the Chinese press for the success of his naturalistic film “Nomadland”, Zhao – who won the Golden Globe for Best Director last month – has since attracted criticism for a 2013 interview, in which she would have described China as “a place where lies are everywhere”.
Tensions in the USA
The director, whose father was supposedly a top executive at a large state-owned steel company and whose stepmother is a famous comic book actress in China, has also been criticized by local social media users. Zhao, who grew up in the United States, mainly made films about America.
In the past two years, at least two Chinese streaming platforms – 1905.com and Mango TV – have shown the Oscar ceremony live. The 1905.com platform is managed by a subsidiary of the state-owned China Central Television, known as CCTV, according to its on the Internet network. The platforms did not immediately respond to emails requesting comments and CCTV did not answer the calls. THE The Academy Awards will take place in Los Angeles on April 25.
Rising tensions with the U.S., especially during the Trump period, fueled nationalism in China, which is also suffering from international criticism about the management of the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. This adds to the challenges of Hollywood, which already has a mixed record of gaining momentum for American films in what is today the largest cinema market in the world.
Read more: Hollywood fights for fans in China’s growing film market
Walt Disney Co. thought it had a blockbuster ready with its live-action remake of the Chinese folk tale “Mulan” last year, but the film was criticized locally for portraying Chinese culture and in the West for being shot in the Xinjiang region, where the government is accused of oppressing the Uighur minority group.
“Monster Hunter,” directed by Paul WS Anderson and supported by Sony Corp. it was also removed from some cinemas in China after a line of dialogue similar to a provocation on the playground generated adverse reactions on social networks. The film’s co-producer apologized and edited the sentence.
– With the help of Karen Leigh