Current location:Global Grandstand news portal > business
Taiwan's Golden Horse a holdout for uncensored Chinese cinema
Global Grandstand news portal2024-05-21 13:33:11【business】7People have gathered around
IntroductionBy Amber Wang with Holmes Chan and Su Xinqi in Hong KongWith no mainstream Chinese films showing for
By Amber Wang with Holmes Chan and Su Xinqi in Hong Kong
With no mainstream Chinese films showing for the third year running, Taiwan’s top film festival may have lost some lustre, but directors and critics say it remains a crucial bulwark against Beijing’s censors.
Long dubbed the Chinese-language “Oscars”, the Golden Horse Film Awards will kick off in Taipei on Saturday — again without the legion of Chinese filmmakers and stars who once used to walk the red carpet.
Hong Kong director Jun Li, whose social drama “Drifting” is a frontrunner at this year’s awards, said it was “obvious” that strained relations between China and Taiwan have affected the awards.
“Anyone would be lying if they tell you they don’t feel the tension,” he told AFP.
Subscribe to HKFP's twice-weekly newsletter for a concise round-up of local news and our best coverage. Unsubscribe at any time - we will not pass on your data to third parties.
Processing… Success! You're on the list. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.Li’s film has the most nominations at 12, including best film and best director, and it tackles Hong Kong’s notorious inequality with a story of homeless people taking authorities to court.
‘Courting trouble’
Chinese films once dominated Golden Horse nominations but last year and this year saw just two films from the mainland in the running for best documentary and best animated short film.
According to organisers, over 200 Chinese and Hong Kong films submitted for competition this year, although film industry sources say they were mostly independent productions unlikely to hit theatres.
Analysts say mainstream Chinese cinema stayed away for fear of repercussions.
“For mega-production Chinese commercial movies, submitting to the Golden Horse awards can be courting trouble,” Wonder Weng, from the Taiwan Film Critics Society, told AFP.
Weng added that the Golden Roosters — the mainland’s own premier film awards — was being held this year on the same night as the Golden Horse bash.
“This apparently sends a message that there is a rivalry,” he said.
Golden Horse continues to nominate the kind of films that would never get past China’s censors.
This year two Hong Kong films that explore the city’s 2019 pro-democracy protests, as well as a Chinese documentary about Tibet, are nominated.
A Chinese animation seen as a metaphor for Hong Kong’s unrest and Beijing’s authoritarian rule has also been given a nod.
China has imposed a sweeping national security law in Hong Kong, once a thriving cinema hub, to crush dissent, and new mainland style political censorship rules have been introduced for films.
In one recent example, authorities blocked the screening of Taiwanese short film “Piglet Piglet” unless scenes relating to the island’s 2020 elections were removed, which the director refused.
‘Free outlet’
Film critic Weng says the Golden Horse awards “sets the benchmark” for Chinese-language cinema as the only platform open to all subjects.
Last year, two Hong Kong films that cast an uncomfortable spotlight on China won accolades, and one of the winners proclaimed support for democracy activists in an acceptance speech read by a representative.
“I think the award has now become a free outlet especially for Hong Kong movies that cannot be distributed in Hong Kong,” said Hong Kong director Kiwi Chow, who has a nomination this year.
“It gives film producers a way out under the current political climate,” he told AFP.
Chow’s “Revolution of Our Times,” which takes its name from a pro-democracy protest slogan, is contending for best documentary and has never been shown commercially in Hong Kong.
He has also sold the rights and masters overseas to avoid Hong Kong’s new censorship and national security laws.
Fellow Hong Kongers Rex Ren and Lam Sum are vying for best new director for their feature film “May You Stay Forever Young”, which is also set against the backdrop of the pro-democracy protests.
Another critics’ top pick for best documentary is “Dark Red Forest” by Chinese director Jin Huaqing, on how some 20,000 Tibetan nuns are forced to give up practising their faith under China’s rule.
“I am gratified to see that the (Golden Horse) awards have managed to keep their courage,” Chow told AFP. “I think that’s also what art is meant to pursue.”
Address of this article:http://gloriosoislands.arandomquote.com/html-29b499926.html
Very good!(17877)
Related articles
- Bella Hadid goes braless in a thigh
- Celta Vigo closer to avoiding relegation after edging Villarreal in Spanish league
- Southern California women sweep UCLA 3
- Migraine drug could be offered to facial flush sufferers after success in trial
- Justin Timberlake set to bring his The Forget Tomorrow World Tour to Australia in 2025
- Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews is available for Game 7 with Bruins after sitting last 2 games
- Why Zendaya's steamy tennis love triangle triumph Challengers is THE movie of the year
- Bangladesh wins toss, puts Zimbabwe in to bat 1st in 2nd T20
- Biden says Brown v. Board of Education ruling was about more than education
- Lemi Berhanu Hayle wins Prague international marathon, Bedatu Hirpa Badane claims women's race
Popular articles
Recommended
Red Lobster seeks bankruptcy protection after closing some restaurants
Biden has rebuilt the refugee system after Trump
A milestone reached in mainline Protestant churches' decades
NANA AKUA: Why Barbra Streisand was RIGHT to ask Melissa McCarthy if she was on Ozempic
Mystery artist who erected signs comparing pothole
Driver dies after crashing into White House perimeter gate, Secret Service says
I did everything right but still almost died on a bushwalk. Here's how I survived
Stephen A. Smith hits back at ex
Links
- New York special election will fill vacancy in Congress created by resignation of Democrat Higgins
- People share their partner's most annoying habits
- Revealed: The top ten most popular dog names in 2024
- Thunder brushed off questions about youth, inexperience, in first
- Billie Eilish announces return to Australia in 2025 for upcoming world tour
- EU legal adviser says some FIFA player transfer rules may breach EU law
- ICJ will rule on Nicaragua's ask for halt on German weapons sales to Israel
- Rays reliever Chris Devenski goes on the injured list with knee tendinitis
- Mississippi lawmakers expected to vote on Medicaid expansion plan with work requirement
- Shooting after prom kills 1 and injures 3 in south Georgia town