Beijing Queer film festival cancelled after harassment from authorities
www.theguardian.com
Forums for discussion of feminist and LGBTQ+ views face growing intolerance from Chinese state, say experts

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/61144951

Archived

[…]

Chinese Police had increased pressure on the festival through repeated phone calls in recent weeks, it is understood.

[…]

The Chinese authorities have grown increasingly intolerant of open discussion of feminist or LGBTQ+ issues. Film festivals in particular attract particular scrutiny because they provide an opportunity to platform narratives that sit outside the Communist party’s worldview.

Beijing Independent film festival, China’s most prominent independent film festival, was closed down in 2014 after the authorities detained the founders and shut off the electricity supply to the venue. Last year, an independent Chinese film festival that was due to be held in New York was cancelled after harassment from the Chinese authorities, an incident which raised concern about transnational repression.

[…]

Hongwei Bao, a professor of Chinese studies at the University of St Andrews who focuses on LGBT issues, said that the festival was “a beacon for LGBT resilience” in China.

“The shutdown of the Love Queer Cinema Week has a chilling affect on the Chinese queer community,” Bao said.

In June this year, screenings of films with LGBTQ+ themes that were scheduled to be held in Beijing during Pride month at the Institut Français, a French cultural centre, were cancelled because of police harassment.

[…]

Despite the increased pressure, Beijing Queer film festival remains a popular event. Several international film-makers whose work had been selected for the festival had travelled to China to participate. Last year, the festival received 200 volunteer applications, four times the number received in 2024.

[…]

  • potatopotato@sh.itjust.works
    191·
    6 days ago

    Before everyone loses their mind in either direction with this one, remember that the CCP is communist in the same way the DPRK is democratic, or arguably the US at this point.

    They just have differently flavored authoritarians in charge who are trying to launder their image under the auspices of other ideologies.

      • 4am@lemmy.zip
        3·
        5 days ago

        Yeah since when has the United States not been a genocidal slaver state run by religious nutjobs hellbent on squeezing everyone they can for the most possible profit extraction?

        I cannot think of a point in history.