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Raymond Ma

Distributor of anti-Bush documentary quashes HK Democrats' 'pirate'  viewing

A planned screening of the anti-George Bush documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 by  an organisation of members of the US Democratic Party in Hong Kong   has been pulled after complaints from the film's local distributor.

Democrats Abroad Hong Kong spokesman Glenn Berkey said the organisation no longer planned to hold its free screening of the Michael Moore  film on Tuesday  over concerns that it would violate local copyright laws.

An indictment of US President George W. Bush's  leadership and his decision to go to war in Iraq following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,  the film won critical acclaim  at the Cannes Film festival.

It is the most successful documentary  produced, grossing  more than US$100 million in international box-office receipts since its release in June.

While it has yet to be shown in local cinemas, the rights to broadcast the documentary in Hong Kong are owned by Panasia Films, a subsidiary of Golden Harvest Entertainment.

A company spokeswoman  said: 'We will not tolerate the film being shown without our permission, and doing so will be a breach of Hong Kong's anti-piracy laws.'

She  said that no timetable had been set for showing the film in Hong Kong.

Despite the cancellation of Tuesday's screening,  Mr Berkey said he was not  dismayed.

'We never intended to violate any laws or anyone's rights by showing the film,' he said.

'We are very happy to learn that it will soon be in theatres here. We only wish it had been released much sooner.'

The organisation also claimed earlier that it received veiled threats last week in the form of anonymous phone calls after reports  that the free screening would take place in Wan Chai.

'It sounded like it was from somebody who might prefer  the movie not be shown or [that we would]  get arrested or sued  [to prevent us from] doing so,' Mr Berkey said.

With  a presidential election looming, Fahrenheit 9/11 has  caused a political headache for many in the US Republican Party.

Mark Simon, vice-chairman of Republicans Abroad in Hong Kong, said he did not know anyone who wanted to stop  the screening.

'That's very untoward behaviour on somebody's part. Hong Kong is a free market and there should be free ideas,' he said.

Michael Moore has been quoted  in the media as saying he could tolerate  people watching copies of his film illegally downloaded from the internet, as long as they were not copied and sold for profit.

The local screening was to be of a copy made from the internet.



Plug pulled on 9/11 blockbuster