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Licence to act: Chinese entertainment executive suggests mandatory training for film and television amid government crackdown
- Zhang Haijun said actors and actresses should take mandatory courses on Chinese law and morals
- But one of China’s top directors said the idea would smother creativity and ruin projects
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Alice Yanin Shanghai
One of China’s most famous directors called a suggestion by an entertainment industry executive to force celebrities to pass knowledge exams impractical.
The suggestion from Zhang Haijun, the director of the Beijing Trade Association for Performances, came amid a national crackdown on celebrity behaviour following high-profile instances of illegal and immoral behaviour.
According to China News Service, Zhang said the industry should force artists to get a licence and undergo training on Chinese ideology, morals, politics and performance theories.
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The idea was viewed 450 million times on Weibo, and it has 36,000 comments as of Wednesday night.
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Jia Zhangke, a titan of Chinese film, said those rules would have prevented him from hiring Han Sanming to lead the film Still Life, which won the Golden Lion Award for Best Film at the 2006 Venice Film Festival.
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