HONG KONG : Two years after screening an internationally acclaimed documentary on the democracy movement in Hong Kong, director Kiwi Chow has been forced to complete a new movie with fresh financing after political concerns scared off some investors.
Chow, feted at the Cannes film festival in 2021 for his documentary,"Revolution of Our Times", said it was clear when the new law came in that film makers would have to steer clear of political topics. In an email statement, the office said it had processed about 5,000 applications for film classification since January 2021, denying approval for public exhibition to six of them.Since 2005, the former British colony has injected HK$1.54 billion into the Film Development Fund. But in February, its culture secretary, Kevin Yeung, warned that funds would not be allocated to film projects that might infringe the 2020 law.
Some actors who wanted to participate in the new film were either pressed not to do so by their management companies, or told by producers that scenes featuring them would be cut from other movies, Chow said.