China’s biggest independent film festival forced to suspend operations indefinitely
- Organisers of China Independent Film Festival say it is now ‘impossible’ to maintain the spirit of independence but hope the films they picked will be remembered
- Event had screened more than 1,000 features and documentaries, many focusing on politically sensitive topics, during its 17 years of operations
China’s largest independent film festival has suspended its operations after the organisers said it was now “impossible” to maintain an “independent spirit”.
The China Independent Film Festival (CIFF), which provided a platform for films covering a range of sensitive topics that were not covered by mainstream festivals, released a statement on its official WeChat account on Thursday announcing that it would be suspended indefinitely after 17 years.
“We believe it is impossible to locally organise a film festival with a purely independent spirit, and even film festivals as a mechanism need to be reflected on,” it said.
“For those local film festivals that try to encourage the spirit of independence under the cloak of safety, we express our respect.”
The statement went on to say the festival had finished its historic mission of “films for freedom”.