Update | More Ten Years fallout: Hong Kong movie producer threatens awards boycott unless voting is changed
Head of Universal International calls for review of “irrational” system
Award-winning movie Ten Years has stoked fresh controversy after one movie maker threatened an awards ceremony boycott in the wake of its winning best picture at a recent industry competition and a newly launched TV station boss revealed it might want to buy it.
The low-budget production – which depicts a dystopian future with diminished human rights as Beijing exterts greater control over Hong Kong – won best picture at the city’s annual film awards on Sunday.
‘This award belongs to you all’: controversial hit Ten Years claims top prize at Hong Kong Film Awards
Since its triumph, it has been at the centre of a divisive debate that continued yesterday over the film’s political position.
The film has been criticised by some in the pro-government camp as “smearing of One Country Two Systems”, as it hypothesises the future of the political and social struggles between Hong Kong and mainland China.
An editorial by pro-establishment newspaper Ta Kung Pao criticised that the fear and alienation of Hongkongers with the mainland was “groundless” and “smearing with political rumours”.
The movie was said to threaten the cooperation between Hong Kong and mainland movie sectors, and damage the professional image of local movies.