Date: 10 Dec 1996

From: Human Rights Watch

Forty-one prominent members of the film community today sent a letter to the Chinese government through its embassy in Washington expressing alarm at Beijing's on-going policy of artistic censorship, seen most recently in the effort to interrupt production of the Walt Disney Company's "Kundun." The letter is attached.

FILM WATCH

December 10, 1996

Ambassador Li Daoyu Embassy of the People's Republic of China 2300

Connecticut Avenue NW Washington, DC 20008

Dear Ambassador Li:

We, members of the film community, have over the last several years become increasingly alarmed at the Chinese government's attempts to dictate what artistic projects can be undertaken in or on China. The latest example is your government's threat to use its market clout to halt production of "Kundun," a feature film produced by the Walt Disney Company about the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled religious and political leader and the 1989 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. According to an official at the Film Bureau of the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television, the film's production constitutes "an interference in China's internal affairs." Interference, in this case, is portraying a view of the situation in Tibet that is at variance with the official Chinese view. The interference that concerns us is your government's attempt to impose worldwide censorship on any artistic production that does not meet with official approval.

The Walt Disney Company, to its credit, has resisted the threat.

Its subsidiary, Touchstone Pictures, will continue its role as co-producer. Martin Scorsese will continue to direct. Disney will distribute the film in the United States as per its original agreement. The movie's script will not be altered to conform to the official Chinese view of the Dalai Lama.

We applaud Disney's stand, but we wish to underscore that we will reject any effort at any time by governments anywhere in the world to censor artistic expression. We note that the Disney episode is only the latest in a series of efforts by China to censor the film industry. Since 1991, those measures include:

a warning in 1991 by the Chinese cultural attach in Ottawa to the National Film Board that release of the documentary "A Song for Tibet" could have consequences. The film's version of Tibetan history ran counter to the official Chinese version;

the banning of "Farewell My Concubine," a Chinese film, which shared top prize at the 1993 International Film Festival in Cannes. China rescinded the ban only after an international outcry at the time China was trying to win its bid for the 2000 Olympics. Officials, objecting to the film's depiction of the violence and brutality unleashed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) and to its overt treatment of homosexuality, forced significant cuts before the film resumed showings;

a walkout by the Chinese delegation to the 1993 Tokyo International Film Festival when sponsors refused to cancel showings of two Chinese films. "The Blue Kite," banned in China, acclaimed at the 1993 Cannes festival. and top prize-winner in Tokyo, depicted the excesses of the Cultural Revolution and of other politically sensitive periods. It was released worldwide only after the raw footage was smuggled to Japan. Chinese officials said the second film, "Beijing Bastards," an independently-made film about alienated youth, was illegally produced;

refusal in 1993 to permit Oliver Stone to make a movie in China about Mao Tse-tung;

reiteration in March 1994 of the conditions under which foreign filmmakers could work in China. Officials, angry over "unapproved" views of Chinese society, warned filmmakers against trampling Chinese sensibilities and distorting Chinese policies and ethnic reality. Two Hong Kong companies were barred from filming in China or releasing their films in Chinese theaters;

a 1994 crackdown on Chinese filmmakers which included banning seven young directors from the industry and further tightening of state control. The Ministry of Radio, Film and Television sent directives to all film studios, processing labs, equipment companies, and or other movie-related enterprises ordering them to refrain from any contacts with the seven;

limits on overseas financing and bans on Chinese-foreign partnerships in an effort to tighten censorship loopholes;

withdrawal of eleven films from the 1994 Hong Kong International Film Festival after organizers refused to cancel showings of three independently-produced Chinese films;

an effort to force Cannes organizers to withdraw the film "To Live" by the world-famous director Zhang Yimou. In protest, he decided not to go to the 1994 Cannes festival. In a further attempt to pressure festival organizers, Chinese officials refused exit visas to the director, producers, and leading actors in another film scheduled for showing;

a request by the Chinese government to the 1995 New York Film Festival to cancel the showing of "The Gate of Heavenly Peace," a U.S.-made documentary analyzing the internal politics of the 1989 student pro-democracy movement, which Chinese officials called "insulting." Movie footage showed graphic scenes of the hunger strikers in Tiananmen Square and of the carnage in Beijing during June 3-4. When festival organizers refused the Chinese government demand, authorities "requested" that Zhang Yimou, whose "Shanghai Triad" was scheduled for showing, remain home;

the banning of five movies by Chinese censors in April 1996, one of which, "Relations Between Man and Woman," was only in the shooting stage. The film, according to the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television, "violated traditional virtues of the Chinese nation and social practices." In March China's propaganda chief said "(movies) must present to the audience...the lofty ideals and beliefs and excellent working style of the Communist Party...and nationalism." ;

the campaign to stop production of "Kundun." The effort is part of a virulent denunciation campaign against the status of the Dalai Lama as a religious and political leader that has steadily intensified since July 1994.

We, the undersigned, believe that these efforts by China to restrict the right of producers, directors, distributors, writers and others to freedom of expression are wholly unacceptable. We are urging Disney, other film companies, and all those involved in the industry including actors, producers, and directors to actively and publicly oppose any and all attempts by your government to censor or intimidate them. We are urging all members of the industry to support those targeted for censorship. Finally, we are urging that film companies make explicit in their contracts with Chinese distributors a provision that editorial content and control will not be subject to your government's review or restriction of any kind. We are eager for good relations with your government and with our Chinese colleagues, but respect for freedom of expression must underpin those ties.

Andrew Bergman

Bernardo Bertolucci

Martin Campbell

Gilbert Cates

Jonathan Demme

Richard Dreyfuss

Nora Ephron

Shelley Fabares

Mike Farrell

Costa Gavras

Richard Gere

George Roy Hill

Norman Jewison

Barry Kemp

Barbara Kopple

Spike Lee

Jennie Livingston

Sidney Lumet

Albert Maysles

Paul Mazursky

Joan Micklin-Silver

Robert Mulligan

Paul Newman

Marcel Ophuls

Alan Pakula

Hannah Pakula

Arthur Penn

Jacques Perrin

Frank Pierson

Sidney Pollack

David W. Rintels

Tim Robbins

Phil Alden Robinson

Herbert Ross

Susan Sarandon

John Sayles

Paul Schrader

George Stevens, Jr.

Oliver Stone

Barbra Streisand

Lawrence Turman

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