Published by: World Tibet Network News Friday, December 5, 1997

HONG KONG, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's movie industry said on Thursday two Hollywood movies on Tibet, which the territory's new master Beijing has branded as ``anti-China,'' might not be shown here because of price, denying it was practising self-censorship.

In October, a storm erupted after some Hong Kong film distributors said they would not show the two movies, portraying the life of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.

The Motion Picture Industry Association (MPIA) said on Thursday some of its members were trying to buy the rights to distribute the films in Hong Kong. But it made no promise whether the two films would ever be released here.

``I don't feel there is a consensus among our members not to buy the rights of the movies,'' said Crucindo Hung, chairman of the MPIA, after a meeting with pro-democracy advocate Emily Lau.

``The delay of buying the distribution rights is probably due to the price,'' Hung said, adding that his company, Delon International Film Corp, was negotiating for the right to show the film, ``Seven Years in Tibet'' starring Brad Pitt.

He said the film was expensive and that his company was likely to lose money on the current price tag of US$320,000.

``Who ever wants to see the new films can go out and buy them. Hong Kong is a free society. There is no self-censorship,'' Hung said. Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to mainland Chinese control on July 1.

Lau was not optimistic that the movies would be released here. ``I have talked to some people in the movie industry. They have told that it is not really commercial reasons for not showing the films. They think people within the professions are very afraid of upsetting China,'' she said.

The second film, ``Kundun,'' made by the Walt Disney Co and directed by Martin Scorsese, is based on an official biography of the Dalai Lama. It opens in the United States in Christmas.

The Chinese government has denounced Kundun and threatened Disney with commercial retaliation if it goes ahead and releases the movie. Disney has refused to back down.

Hong Kong film maker Shu Kei, who said he had heard a couple of distributors were not going to buy the film, was planning to acquire the Hong Kong rights to Kundun.

Another Hollywood movie, ``Red Corner,'' directed by Jon Avnet and starring Richard Gere, may also face distribution problems because the film criticises the Chinese legal system.

Officials from the UIP International Services which has the worldwide distribution rights of the movie were not immediately available for comment whether it would release the film here.