Global Courant
HONG KONG — Two years after screening an internationally acclaimed documentary about Hong Kong’s democratic movement, director Kiwi Chow has been forced to complete a new film with new funding after political concerns put some investors off.
Fears increased after Hong Kong passed a new censorship law in October 2021 to ban films that “could endanger national security”, but directors say they are now facing difficulties in securing funding and even actors, while others are looking to moved abroad.
“Actresses among Hong Kong’s film companies are very scared, and this fear overshadows everything,” said Chow, who said the situation had left artists and investors worried about crossing ill-defined “red lines” regarding national security.
“This is what makes it scary, it doesn’t have to suppress you directly, but it has already scared all these people,” he added.
Mr Chow, who received acclaim at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival for his “Revolution of Our Times” documentary, said it was clear once the new law came into effect that filmmakers would need to avoid political subjects.
But he didn’t realize then that people would be so risk averse, even though he hadn’t been found guilty of anything.
The censorship measure, which follows a national security law China imposed on the Asian financial center in 2020, means directors must now avoid certain subjects so as not to endanger investors and actors, some filmmakers said.
At least 21 films and shorts have had scenes cut or their release blocked by the Hong Kong Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Association (OFNAA) since October 2021, a Reuters report found.
In an emailed statement, the agency said it had processed about 5,000 film rating applications since January 2021, with six of them denied approval for public screening.
But it declined to comment on individual films.
Since 2005, the former British colony has injected HK$1.54 billion (S$265 million) into the Film Development Fund.
But in February, culture secretary Kevin Yeung warned that no money would be allocated to film projects that may violate the 2020 law.
It is not immediately clear how much censorship measures have affected such funding.
Responding to a question from Reuters, Hong Kong’s Film Development Council, which is primarily responsible for government funding of the industry, said in an email that it should investigate the matter before commenting.
Still, filmmakers see little room for maneuver.
