Shock in China after Zhang Yimou film set during Cultural Revolution is pulled from Berlin festival
- Online community speculates government pressure is behind the move
- Beijing tightens its ideological grip on all media, including film censorship
The abrupt withdrawal from the Berlin Film Festival of renowned director Zhang Yimou’s new film, set in the Cultural Revolution, has sparked outrage and speculation in China over what may have triggered the move.
One Second depicts a man who escapes a prison farm in northwestern China in the 1970s – because he desperately wants to see a film – and an orphan he meets along the way.
Zhang, who was sent for re-education during China’s sociopolitical movement from 1966 until 1976 – known as the Cultural Revolution – has said that he wanted to pay tribute to the cinema of those troubled times in his latest work.
The film’s producers announced on Monday that for “technical reasons” the movie could not be shown at the 10-day festival, which began on Thursday.
Film by China’s Zhang Yimou withdrawn from Berlin festival competition days before its world premiere
Industry insiders confirmed the film had acquired an initial release permit from Beijing but said regulators might have changed their minds and asked for further cuts because of the sensitivity of the subject.