Published by: World Tibet Network News ISSUE ID: 98/01/08

HONG KONG, Jan 8 (AFP) - A Hong Kong distributor is planning to show an all-star Hollywood movie about exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama espite Beijing's rejection of the film for being anti-China, the distributor said Thursday.

Crucindo Hung, managing director of Delon International Film Corp., said "Seven Years in Tibet" starring box-office heart-throb Brad Pitt could be shown in Hong Kong cinemas before May.

"I like the style in which the film was made," said Hung, adding he did not consider the political context of the film.

China has said the film "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people."

"I did not have to ask permission from Beijing," Hung told AFP, noting that under Chinese rule following the July 1 handover of the former British colony, "Hong Kong remains free to decide what is best under the so-called "one country, two systems."

China has criticized three recent Hollywood films -- Seven Years in Tibet, Kundun and Red Corner -- as anti-China.

Hung said the distribution rights for Seven Years in Tibet involved "big, big money," without discussing the amount.

However, industry sources said Delon would have had to pay between 100,000 US dollars and 200,000 dollars for the rights to the film.

"I don't think there will be problems for showing the film in cinemas here," said Hung.

Seven Years in Tibet was shot on location in the Andes, with the Dalai Lama's sister Jetsun Pema playing a major role.

Another Hong Kong distributor, UIP, is reported to be trying to screen "Red Corner" starring Richard Gere, a movie about an American framed for murder in Beijing.

"Kundun," directed by veteran film-maker Martin Scorsese, is also expected to be shown in Hong Kong, with distributor Shu Kei planning to leave for the United States this week to see the screening.

The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India since a failed uprising in Tibet in 1959. He has often been accused by Beijing of working to divide China, which controls Tibet.

Gere, who has campaigned for a free Tibet, is a Buddhist follower of the Dalai Lama.

Chau Tak-hay, Hong Kong's secretary for Broadcasting, Culture and Sports, said in October there were no legal reasons preventing the films from being shown being shown. He said the law only empowered authorities to check films for violence and sex.

An article in the Hong Kong constitution which came into force after the territory's July 1 handover to China deals with "subversion". But Chau said the administration had not reached a decision on how to change the existing law to comply with the article.