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Summary of article:
The 25-year-old Beijing Cool Film Week was suddenly canceled, which foreign media said was related to police pressure. The Wuhan Berlin Film Week was also postponed on the same day, highlighting the continued lack of LGBT and independent film festival space in China.
The 25-year-old Beijing Queer Film Festival (now known as Love Queer Film Week), China’s only one focused on LGBT issues, was originally scheduled to be held on October 30, but its cancellation was suddenly announced late the day before. The Guardian said this was due to police pressure. That same day,Wuhan Berlin Film Week also announced emergency postponement.
The Beijing Queer Film Festival released a statement on its official Instagram on October 29, stating that the Queer Film Week originally scheduled to be held in the near future would be cancelled. The statement did not disclose detailed reasons for the cancellation or future dates.
According to the British media “The Guardian”, the organizers of the film festival were continuously receiving calls from the police to put pressure on them a few weeks before the festival. The report also said that several international filmmakers whose works were selected for this year’s film festival have arrived in China and are preparing to participate in the event.
The report quoted Wang Songlian, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, as saying, “There is not much room left for civil society in China. The authorities are constantly exerting pressure, and the LGBT community and independent film activists are also facing increasing pressure. Queer film festivals are under pressure from these aspects almost simultaneously.”
Hongwei Bao, professor of Chinese studies at the University of St Andrews in Britain, said the Beijing Queer Film Festival is “a symbol of resilience for the LGBT community” in China. He said that canceling Love Cool Movies would have a very bad impact on China’s gay community.
According to reports from Hong Kong media and Ming Pao, the Beijing Queer Film Festival was started in 2001 by scholar Cui Zien and Peking University student Yang Yang. It is one of the oldest independent film festivals in China and the only film festival in China that focuses on gay and LGBT issues.
Reports suggest that screenings at the Beijing Queer Film Festival have been blocked several times over the years. After its suspension in 2014, organizers took audiences on a train from Beijing to Huairou, a suburb of Beijing, and played the documentary “Our Story”, reviewing the history of the film festival, on the train. The “Gay Pride Month” screening event in June this year was also canceled due to police pressure.
The name of the film festival has changed several times, from “China Gay Film Festival”, “Beijing Gay Film Festival”, “Beijing Queer Film Festival” in the early years, to “Queer Film Week” in 2015, and it is held at the French Cultural Center in Beijing.
In addition, on October 29, the Wuhan Independent Film Festival “Wuhan Berlin Film Week” also announced that the originally scheduled screening activities will be postponed, including the “Academic Observation” special section originally scheduled from October 30 to November 1 and November 6 to November 8, and all orders will be fully refunded. No reason was given in the statement.
Summary FAQ
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The organizer only announced the event’s cancellation on its official Instagram without giving details; The Guardian quoted sources as saying that the organizer continued to receive calls from the police in the weeks leading up to the festival, which was widely considered to be the main reason.
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Launched in 2001, the Beijing Queer Film Festival is one of the oldest independent film festivals in China and is currently the only film festival focused on queer and LGBT issues. Therefore, it is considered an important platform for the Chinese LGBT community.
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Scholars and human rights activists believe that continued disruptions to film festivals will have a detrimental effect on China’s gay community and independent film workers. It also shows that the space for civil society is continuously shrinking and cultural activities are facing greater pressure.
