Film about Chinese man, murdered for standing up to shoddy developers, hits snag as family threatens to sue
- The story of a man murdered in 2003 for coming forward against poor construction quality, is planned for a film adaptation
- However, his family claims any film would harm his reputation and has threatened legal action
The family of a man who was killed and buried under a playground by several mobsters in central China in 2003 has pledged to sue a film production team that plans to make a movie about the high-profile case.
According to Chinese law, the reputation of the dead is also protected and the relatives can launch legal action when it’s believed that their posthumous reputation has been damaged.
Zhou Zhaocheng, the family’s lawyer, warned on Weibo over the weekend that he believed Chinese director Ah Nian and his supporting team should get the family’s authorisation to shoot the film in advance, otherwise they will file a lawsuit.
The case of Deng, a middle school teacher in Hunan’s Huaihua city, rocked China in 2019 when his remains were found by police 16 years after he went missing amid a row with the school principal and the contractor of the school’s construction project.
It only came to light when the contractor was seized by authorities for other crimes during a crackdown on triad gangs. Previously police had allegedly refused to investigate because of the murderers’ connections, despite Deng’s family’s pleas.