Lost in Beijing uncut in Berlin
Just over a week ago, I mentioned that Li Yu’s Lost in Beijing had been cleared by the Chinese censors to compete at the Berlin international film festival, but only after several scenes were cut from the film.
However, a Berlinale spokeswoman has said that, because of technical and logistic reasons, it was not possible to screen the altered version of the film and the version that premièred on Friday was uncut.
Despite signs of some recent relaxation on the part of the censorship authorities, directors still require Beijing’s approval for showing their films at foreign festivals. In particular, the censors in Beijing have been very sensitive to films portraying contemporary life or those that touch on politically charged issues such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Lost in Beijing, which tells the story of the relationship that emerges between a Beijing massage parlour boss and a worker, and includes scenes from Tiananmen Square falls foul of both these sensitivities.
Sunday 18 Feb 2007 | Paul | China
