Perils of censorship no Mystery for director Lou Ye
Censors approved the film's entry in the Cannes Film Festival when Beijing officials at the last minute ordered two violent scenes near the end to be cut before its mainland release
Mainland film censorship is just like the title of the Asian Film Awards' best film winner Mystery, says its director Lou Ye, who believes that the system must go or it will remain an obstacle to the development of Chinese cinema.
He said the censors had approved the film's entry in the Cannes Film Festival when Beijing officials at the last minute ordered two violent scenes near the end to be cut before its mainland release.
"Change is a must, because [the censorship system] does not suit the Chinese film industry any more. It is an obstacle to Chinese cinema development," the acclaimed director said.
Mystery, which tells a story of a woman's discovery of her husband's extra-marital affairs turning into violence in Wuhan , won best screenwriter and best newcomer alongside the top prize at Monday night's Asian Film Awards.
It is Lou's seventh feature, but only his first to be released on the mainland in a decade.
He was handed a five-year ban on filmmaking on the mainland after he entered Summer Palace, a heart-wrenching drama touching on the Tiananmen Square bloodshed, in the Cannes festival in 2006 without authorisation.