FILE PHOTO: A parade participant in a Winnie the Pooh costume waves a Chinese flag earlier than the Lunar New Year parade celebrating the Year of the Rabbit within the Chinatown neighborhood of New York, U.S., February 12, 2023. REUTERS/Bing Guan
HONG KONG — The screening of “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,” a British slasher movie as a result of be launched in Hong Kong this week, has been canceled, its distributor stated on Tuesday with out giving a cause.
VII Pillars Entertainment stated on its Facebook web page that it was with “great regret” that the scheduled launch of the film on March 23 had been canceled. It didn’t give particulars.
Chinese censors have up to now focused the movie’s essential character, initially created by English writer A.A. Milne, as a result of memes that evaluate the bumbling bear to President Xi Jinping.
The comparisons started in 2013 when Xi visited the United States and met his then counterpart Barack Obama and a few on-line commentators seized on their likeness to Pooh and Tigger.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (REUTERS/ file photograph)
Some individuals have used the picture of Pooh to sign dissent.
The Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA) advised Reuters that it had issued a certificates of approval to the applicant.
“The arrangements of cinemas in Hong Kong on the screening of individual films with certificates of approval in their premises are the commercial decisions of the cinemas concerned, and OFNAA would not comment on such arrangements,” a spokesperson stated.
A ticket-booking hyperlink on its Facebook web page introduced up a message saying ticketing was briefly unavailable.
Moviematic, which had organized a screening of the movie for Tuesday night, reported the cancellation on its social media web page earlier within the day citing technical causes.
Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield advised Reuters that “something mysterious” had occurred.
“The cinemas agreed to show it, then all independently come to the same decision overnight. It won’t be a coincidence,” Frake-Waterfield stated.
“They claim technical reasons but there is no technical reason. The film has showed in over 4,000 cinema screens worldwide. These 30+ screens in Hong Kong are the only ones with such issues.”
Beijing imposed a nationwide safety legislation on Hong Kong in 2020 cracking down on dissent after the town was rocked by anti-government, pro-democracy protests a 12 months earlier.
A brand new censorship legislation within the former British colony got here into impact in 2021 which bars movies that “endorse, support, glorify, encourage and incite activities that might endanger national security”.
Two movies have been dropped from Hong Kong’s worldwide movie pageant final 12 months after failing to get approval from authorities.
The cancelation comes as Hong Kong hosts the Art Basel modern artwork honest with authorities eager to advertise the town as a vibrant cultural hub.
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