#Censorship #FailedState
Hong Kong Government Bans Film Screening
Ying E Chi (YEC), a non-profit art organisation that distributes Hong Kong independent films, applied for a 20,000 HKD subsidy from the Wong Tai Sin District Council to hold 3 movie nights to show movies related to Hong Kong's social movement: "Lost in the Fumes", "Yellowing" and "Last Exit to Kai Tak".
However, the application was denied by the government's Home Affairs Department (HAD).
The HAD quoted the the Manual on the Use of District Council Funds that the event will result in a conflict of interest, and it will end up becoming "propaganda for individuals featured in the movies", since the three movies are biographies and documentaries.
Vincent Chui, art director of YEC, said the government requested the names of the movies after their application was submitted. "20,000HKD is not a big amount, but I am not satisfied with the procedure. Our application was initially approved by the council, but they have taken back their words."
According to the manual, funding for projects that has the potential to give excessive credit to an individual, a commercial organisation, a political party shall not get approved. However, the screening of China-made propagandist film The Founding of a Nation (2019) was funded by the Tai Po District Council in the previous term in 2018.
Chui indicated that the YEC had received a phone call from the HAD requesting to change the movies to be screened. Chui disagreed with the HAD's concern of any potential conflict of interest from the event, as the YEC is a non-profit organisation.
Chui also mentioned that the copyright fee only goes to the film directors. Nobody in the YEC will get a cut from the fee.
Source: InMedia #Jun6
#YingEChi #VincentChui #LostintheFumes #NoraLam #HongKongIndie #IndependentFilms #DistrictCouncilor
Hong Kong Government Bans Film Screening
Ying E Chi (YEC), a non-profit art organisation that distributes Hong Kong independent films, applied for a 20,000 HKD subsidy from the Wong Tai Sin District Council to hold 3 movie nights to show movies related to Hong Kong's social movement: "Lost in the Fumes", "Yellowing" and "Last Exit to Kai Tak".
However, the application was denied by the government's Home Affairs Department (HAD).
The HAD quoted the the Manual on the Use of District Council Funds that the event will result in a conflict of interest, and it will end up becoming "propaganda for individuals featured in the movies", since the three movies are biographies and documentaries.
Vincent Chui, art director of YEC, said the government requested the names of the movies after their application was submitted. "20,000HKD is not a big amount, but I am not satisfied with the procedure. Our application was initially approved by the council, but they have taken back their words."
According to the manual, funding for projects that has the potential to give excessive credit to an individual, a commercial organisation, a political party shall not get approved. However, the screening of China-made propagandist film The Founding of a Nation (2019) was funded by the Tai Po District Council in the previous term in 2018.
Chui indicated that the YEC had received a phone call from the HAD requesting to change the movies to be screened. Chui disagreed with the HAD's concern of any potential conflict of interest from the event, as the YEC is a non-profit organisation.
Chui also mentioned that the copyright fee only goes to the film directors. Nobody in the YEC will get a cut from the fee.
Source: InMedia #Jun6
#YingEChi #VincentChui #LostintheFumes #NoraLam #HongKongIndie #IndependentFilms #DistrictCouncilor
#YingEChi #Ban #Documentaries
#Censorship: Hong Kong Authorities Accuse Protest Documentaries of "Constituting Criminal Offences"
The Hong Kong government's Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (#OFNAA), which is responsible for approving films and printed matters for public distribution, accused two local documentaries of "constituting criminal offences" for showing footages of the 2019 Anti-ELAB movement.
The two documentaries “Taking back the Legislature" and "Inside the Red Brick Wall" were produced by Ying E Chi, a veteran non-profit independent film organization in Hong Kong.
The documentaries captured the pro-democracy protesters' siege of the legislative council on July 1, 2019 and the siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in November 2019, respectively.
Ying E Chi released a statement on Sept 21, 2020 and revealed how the OFNAA has made different attempts to bar the films from being shown in cinema. These included the request to re-edit; overturning past approved screening certificates; and classifying "Inside the Red Brick Wall" into a Category III film only 2 hours before its release.*
*In Hong Kong, Category III films are restricted to an audience above 18 years of age. In the case of "Inside the Red Brick Wall", Ying E Chi has to make refund to all underaged spectators.
Ying E Chi said the authorities has tried to "coerce the directors into making statements against their wills" and threatened to bar the films from screening.
Ying E Chi also expressed that "the opinion expressed in the statement issued by The Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA) does not reflect the views of the director and the production team".
According to Ying E Chi director Vincent Chui, four staff of the OFNAA were present to monitor the public screening on Sept 21, 2020.
=======
Ying E Chi expresses strong disagreement as the OFNAA:
1. Force the films to be edited under the pretext of protecting everyone, but in fact, only to protect their own interest
2. Request an announcement to be made at the beginning of the film, yet refused to be declared as the one who demanded the announcement
(See images in blue: https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/25425)
3. Overturn the previous certificate issued by the OFNAA with unspecified reason
4. Fail to issue the certificate on time as promised, whilst shifting the responsibility to the applicant
=========
The comments made by the OFNAA on the two documentaries are as follows:
“Taking back the Legislature”:
“This film records the serious incident of the storming of the Legislative Council Complex on 1 July 2019. Some of those depictions or acts may constitute criminal offences under prevailing laws.”
“Inside the Red Brick Wall:
“This film records the serious incidents at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and nearby areas in November 2019. Some of those depictions or acts may constitute criminal offences under prevailing laws. Some of the contents of or commentaries in the film may be unverified or misleading.”
Source: Ying E Chi; Apple Daily #Sept21
https://www.facebook.com/261128170659949/posts/3063984707040934/
https://hk.appledaily.com/local/20200921/KVBCY4X4LZG4DKOP6FJJIF34AE/
#VincentChui #PolyUSiege #LegCoSiege #1July2019 #IndieCinema #HongKongCinema
#Censorship: Hong Kong Authorities Accuse Protest Documentaries of "Constituting Criminal Offences"
The Hong Kong government's Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (#OFNAA), which is responsible for approving films and printed matters for public distribution, accused two local documentaries of "constituting criminal offences" for showing footages of the 2019 Anti-ELAB movement.
The two documentaries “Taking back the Legislature" and "Inside the Red Brick Wall" were produced by Ying E Chi, a veteran non-profit independent film organization in Hong Kong.
The documentaries captured the pro-democracy protesters' siege of the legislative council on July 1, 2019 and the siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in November 2019, respectively.
Ying E Chi released a statement on Sept 21, 2020 and revealed how the OFNAA has made different attempts to bar the films from being shown in cinema. These included the request to re-edit; overturning past approved screening certificates; and classifying "Inside the Red Brick Wall" into a Category III film only 2 hours before its release.*
*In Hong Kong, Category III films are restricted to an audience above 18 years of age. In the case of "Inside the Red Brick Wall", Ying E Chi has to make refund to all underaged spectators.
Ying E Chi said the authorities has tried to "coerce the directors into making statements against their wills" and threatened to bar the films from screening.
Ying E Chi also expressed that "the opinion expressed in the statement issued by The Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA) does not reflect the views of the director and the production team".
According to Ying E Chi director Vincent Chui, four staff of the OFNAA were present to monitor the public screening on Sept 21, 2020.
=======
Ying E Chi expresses strong disagreement as the OFNAA:
1. Force the films to be edited under the pretext of protecting everyone, but in fact, only to protect their own interest
2. Request an announcement to be made at the beginning of the film, yet refused to be declared as the one who demanded the announcement
(See images in blue: https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/25425)
3. Overturn the previous certificate issued by the OFNAA with unspecified reason
4. Fail to issue the certificate on time as promised, whilst shifting the responsibility to the applicant
=========
The comments made by the OFNAA on the two documentaries are as follows:
“Taking back the Legislature”:
“This film records the serious incident of the storming of the Legislative Council Complex on 1 July 2019. Some of those depictions or acts may constitute criminal offences under prevailing laws.”
“Inside the Red Brick Wall:
“This film records the serious incidents at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and nearby areas in November 2019. Some of those depictions or acts may constitute criminal offences under prevailing laws. Some of the contents of or commentaries in the film may be unverified or misleading.”
Source: Ying E Chi; Apple Daily #Sept21
https://www.facebook.com/261128170659949/posts/3063984707040934/
https://hk.appledaily.com/local/20200921/KVBCY4X4LZG4DKOP6FJJIF34AE/
#VincentChui #PolyUSiege #LegCoSiege #1July2019 #IndieCinema #HongKongCinema
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#YingEChi #Documentaries #Ban
#Censorship: Hong Kong Authorities Accuse Protest Documentaries of "Constituting Criminal Offences"
Source: Ying E Chi; Apple Daily #Sept21
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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/25426
#Censorship: Hong Kong Authorities Accuse Protest Documentaries of "Constituting Criminal Offences"
Source: Ying E Chi; Apple Daily #Sept21
Read more
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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/25426
#IndependentCinema #YingEChi
Local Groups Support Protest Documentary 'Inside the Red Brick Wall',
Filmmaker: Rethinking Life in the 'New Norm' under National Security Law
The documentary film 'Inside the Red Brick Wall' recorded the police siege of the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong (#PolyU) in November 2019. The screening of the film was supported by the local organization at Hong Kong Arts Centre on October 31, 2020.
The authorities OFNAA has rated the film as Category III, meaning that underage audience are not permitted into the screening. Compulsory warnings have been inserted into the opening of the film, stating 'some of those descriptions or acts may constitute criminal offences under prevailing laws', and 'some of the contents of or commentaries in the film may be unverified or misleading'.
Vincent Chui, the art director of the NGO Ying E Chi which distributed the film clarified that the warnings were prescribed by the authorities, and such act has set the alarm bells of freedom of speech ringing in Hong Kong.
Eric Poon, the associate professor of practice of School of Journalism and Communism at Chinese University of Hong Kong (#CUHK), and the former director of the #RTHK program 'Hong Kong Connection', spoke in the sharing session. Poon said that though protest documentaries are now under pressure in Hong Kong, the situation here is still not comparable to that in China, in which electricity is often cut during film screenings.
Poon then referred to Chinese documentary filmmaker Ai Xiao-ming, who carries on screening her films despite the lack of equipment. Poon remarked that in the 'new norm' of Hong Kong's National Security Law, apart from planning currency exchange and immigration, Hongkongers should also think about how to keep on living.
'We cannot expect that the next social movement will emerge soon, but in between the periods there are still a lot of things we can do," Poon reminded the audience.
Poon also mentioned that the themes and the visions of the documentaries of his era in Hong Kong did not reflect the taste of the Western countries, thus it was hard for them to get into the international market.
However, this time 'Inside the Red Brick Wall' has been shortlisted at the International Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), indicating that Hongkongers can now proudly present their own perspective to the world, 'The stories of Hong Kong are now told by us, not by the others.'
Source: Stand News #Nov1
#InsidetheRedBrickWall #PolyUSiege #VincentChui #EricPoon #StoryofHongKong #HKDocumentary
Local Groups Support Protest Documentary 'Inside the Red Brick Wall',
Filmmaker: Rethinking Life in the 'New Norm' under National Security Law
The documentary film 'Inside the Red Brick Wall' recorded the police siege of the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong (#PolyU) in November 2019. The screening of the film was supported by the local organization at Hong Kong Arts Centre on October 31, 2020.
The authorities OFNAA has rated the film as Category III, meaning that underage audience are not permitted into the screening. Compulsory warnings have been inserted into the opening of the film, stating 'some of those descriptions or acts may constitute criminal offences under prevailing laws', and 'some of the contents of or commentaries in the film may be unverified or misleading'.
Vincent Chui, the art director of the NGO Ying E Chi which distributed the film clarified that the warnings were prescribed by the authorities, and such act has set the alarm bells of freedom of speech ringing in Hong Kong.
Eric Poon, the associate professor of practice of School of Journalism and Communism at Chinese University of Hong Kong (#CUHK), and the former director of the #RTHK program 'Hong Kong Connection', spoke in the sharing session. Poon said that though protest documentaries are now under pressure in Hong Kong, the situation here is still not comparable to that in China, in which electricity is often cut during film screenings.
Poon then referred to Chinese documentary filmmaker Ai Xiao-ming, who carries on screening her films despite the lack of equipment. Poon remarked that in the 'new norm' of Hong Kong's National Security Law, apart from planning currency exchange and immigration, Hongkongers should also think about how to keep on living.
'We cannot expect that the next social movement will emerge soon, but in between the periods there are still a lot of things we can do," Poon reminded the audience.
Poon also mentioned that the themes and the visions of the documentaries of his era in Hong Kong did not reflect the taste of the Western countries, thus it was hard for them to get into the international market.
However, this time 'Inside the Red Brick Wall' has been shortlisted at the International Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), indicating that Hongkongers can now proudly present their own perspective to the world, 'The stories of Hong Kong are now told by us, not by the others.'
Source: Stand News #Nov1
#InsidetheRedBrickWall #PolyUSiege #VincentChui #EricPoon #StoryofHongKong #HKDocumentary