Films as national security threats and national security law threats to films in Hong Kong

Chow Chun-fai's painting of a still from 

Fruit Chan's Little Cheung (1999)
 

Back on June 11th, the government gazetted changes to the Film Censorship Ordinance to enable local film censors to ban any movies deemed to be supporting or glorifying acts that could endanger national security.  This move came in the wake of pro-Beijing figures and media railed against the public screenings of films deemed to glorify protesters involved in the 2019 unrest (such as the Hong Kong Film Critics Society's 2020 Best Film winner, Inside the Red Brick Wall).  

 

Not content to stop there, the authorities -- via Commerce Secretary Edward Yau (the same Edward Yau who a few days ago defended the government’s decision to exempt Nicole Kidman and three other people working on Lulu Wang's The Expats Amazon Prime series from serving mandatory quarantine, suggesting in the process that the Australian actress' trip to a Central shopping boutique may have been a part of a “costume fitting”) -- issued a statement last month that films that make it through Hong Kong's censorship checks may still be deemed to breach the national security law.  And now they also have made clear their intent to introduce a new film censorship law that would have vest them with the power to revoke approval previously granted to movies for national security purposes. 

 

"We need this provision to cater for circumstances where a film which was graded or approved before, but given the new law enacted and new guidelines issued, there might be chances that we need to reconsider such cases," said that man Edward Yau again, this time at a press briefing which took place yesterday.  And the severity of this proposed law -- which will be tabled at the now opposition-less Legisliatve Council for its first and second reading next Wednesday -- can be seen in its power to send anyone responsible for illegal screenings to jail for up to three years and/or a fine of HK$1 million (US$128,000).

 

If all the above doesn't sound bad enough, consider the following pointed out by Variety's Patrick Frater: "Although the government has said that the July 2021 National Security Law does not have retrospective effect, the new film censorship law appears to have retroactive impact and undo existing classifications of past titles.  It will “empower the Chief Secretary for Administration to direct the Film Censorship Authority to revoke certificates of approval or certificates of exemption previously issued for films if their exhibition would be contrary to the interests of national security.”"

 

I know some people will worry that their beloved kungfu movies and period actioners will be affected (this not least since a good number of them have plotlines involving heroes and/or heroines going against, if not outright bidding to overthrow, the ruling regimes) -- or even any film whose characters consider Taiwan to be a country (as opposed to a renegade province of the People's Republic of China).  Also, more than one person has wondered if Les Miserables (whose Do You Hear the People Sing? is a popular Hong Kong protest anthem) might be one of the (many) movies retroactively banned; ditto re whether the Star Wars films would (also) get the chop -- since it's about a rebel alliance out to defeat a powerful regime!  

 

It remains to be seen how sweepingly the people empowered to do so will apply the new law that will have no problems passing through the now opposition-less Legislative Council.  Still, one thing we can be pretty certain about is that the likes of Ten Years and documentaries about the extradition bill protests (e.g., Kiwi Chow's Cannes world premiering Revolution of Our Times) and the Umbrella Movement (e.g., Evans Chan's Raise the Umbrellas) won't be screened in public or even semi-privately (though not privately in homes?) in Hong Kong after this law is passed (as early as next week). But, then, it's been a while since any Hong Kong film of this overtly political nature has been.

 

In the wake of Edward Yau's announcement, Hong Kong filmmakers have been filled with (more) worry -- though there's an argument to be made that the proposed law is targeted more at film exhibitiors and distributors than filmmakers.  Still, I'll leave the last word for now to director-producer Mabel Cheung, who's quoted in a RTHK article today as saying the following:

The trade has a lot of questions. We have had meetings with officials, mainly to ask them what's allowed and what's not…. But the government hasn’t been able to give any concrete answer...

 

Most of us [filmmakers] just want to make movies to entertain people, express our beliefs or make movies that move us personally… Directors should be brave, we should stand firm and make movies for things that are worth it. Although there may be a lot of uncertainties, if you don’t keep walking how would you find out whether there’s a way? How could you censor yourself? I think we should be brave and stride ahead.