A dark film predicting a grim future for
Hong Kong a decade from now has become a massive local hit amid concerns that
Beijing is tightening its grip on the former
British territory.
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HONG KONG,
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"
Ten Years", a film which portrays a dystopian future Hong Kong under tight
Chinese Communist Party control, has been a hit in Hong Kong and abroad, selling out cinemas, sparking discussions and being screened at international film festivals.
But
Chinese state media has criticised the film and that has aroused new concern about mainland influence over Hong Kong despite a "one country, two systems" formula meant to preserve the city's autonomy.
"Ten Years" is a series of five short films packaged as a feature-length show. Set in the year 2025, the film includes scenes of a self-immolation in front of Hong Kong's
British Consulate and an assassination attempt in a city election.
The scenes, while fictional, underscore tension simmering between mainland
China and the former
British colony that returned to Chinese rule in
1997.
The film has been nominated for
Best Picture at the
Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong's equivalent of the
Oscars, due to be announced on April 3.
Its makers say their project began before pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in late 2014 that exacerbated longstanding concern in the city about creeping mainland control.
"I think it kind of reflects that the China government doesn't really understand what
Hong Kong people are thinking.
And I think they should watch the film and get a better understanding of what the Hong Kong people are feeling right now, instead of just banning all the screenings and even the (
Hong Kong) film awards," said Ten Years
Producer Andrew Choi.
China's state-controlled
Global Times denounced "Ten Years" in a January editorial as absurd and pessimistic and accused it of being a "thought virus".
Soon after, screenings of the film stopped in Hong Kong cinemas.
Cinema operators told the film-makers they could no longer show it because of scheduling issues.
But some people doubted that explanation.
"
Let's take 'Ten Years'. It has been making, you know, it has been breaking all kinds of box office records.
Almost every single show at any theatre, you know, it was being shown, was full. But even with that smashing record, suddenly the cinema would tell the film makers that 'no, we are not going to book the film," said said
Hong Kong Academy for
Performing Arts,
School of
Film and
Television Chairman
Shu Kei.
One of the five directors, Jevon Au, said that before the controversy surrounding 'Ten Years', he had believed in '
One Country, Two Systems', whereby Hong Kong retains a high degree of autonomy and upholds freedoms not enjoyed on the
Chinese mainland.
"I still believe in one country, two system. But nowadays I really doubt it. That's my thought. I really doubt.
It's the
Hong Kong; Hong Kong is not really part of China. Not, it's really part of China. And the two system does not work.
I believe freedom of speech," said Au.
Choi said that although the film was begun in early 2014, the three-month pro-democracy protests later that year, dubbed the '
Umbrella Movement', tainted the mood of the final product.
"I think during the umbrella movement it kind of changed the mood of all our directors and script writers. So it actually reflects in some of our stories. We actually kind of changed the story a little bit. We kind of changed the mood a little bit. I think because some of the things actually happened when we planned our script and some of the screens (scenes), some of the moments during the umbrella movement as Hong Kong people we could never imagine. So I think the tone and the mood become a little pessimistic of the future of Hong Kong," said Choi, adding they had no idea the former British colony would also be rocked by a botched political reform vote, a riot and the case of five Hong Kong booksellers specializing in gossipy publications about
Chinese leaders who went missing last year.
Just days before the Film
Awards, speculation is swirling that the show will not be broadcast in the mainland because of the Best Picture nomination for "Ten Years".
Media in Hong Kong,
Taiwan and the
United States have reported that state-run
China Central Television and the Chinese social media and online entertainment company Tencent, which have the rights to broadcast the awards, have decided not to beam it to the mainland.
The companies did not respond to requests for comment and the awards organiser, the Hong Kong Film Awards
Association, declined to comment.
Of the two offices that oversee Hong Kong for the
Chinese government, the Liaison
Office in Hong Kong did not respond to a request for comment, while the
Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office was not available for comment.
- published: 24 Mar 2016
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