Script Censorship…Chinese censors edit storyline to Hollywood zombie film, World War Z

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See article from thewrap.com

Executives at the Hollywood studio, Paramount have been worrying about a minor plot point in the $175 million zombie film, World War Z , which stars Brad Pitt. In the ‘offending scene’, characters debate the geographic origin of an outbreak that caused a zombie apocalypse and point to China, a Paramount executive told TheWrap. The fast-rising prominence of the Chinese market, state censorship and the tight quotas for U.S. releases, the studio advised the movie producers to drop the reference to China and cite a different country as a possible source of the pandemic, an executive with knowledge of the film told TheWrap. The change was made in recent days in the hopes of landing a deal for one of Paramount’s biggest summer movies to play in China.

At least China is Uncompetitive in one Market…Extreme film censorship puts a dampener on local production

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See article from voanews.com

China is wrestling with how to reconcile its extreme censorship system with the need to create films the world will want to watch. Xie Fei, a professor at the prestigious Beijing Film Academy, recently sparked a debate on government control over the film industry when he called for replacing the country’s censorship procedures by a movie rating system with ratings similar to those used in the United States. Xie wrote in an open letter: In the past few years, there were so many unwritten laws when censoring movies. Unwritten laws such as: ‘ghosts are not allowed in contemporary settings,’ ‘extramarital affairs are not allowed,’ ‘certain political incidents are not allowed,’ etc. The censorship system [in China] is not defined by law, but done according to individuals. Such rules are killing artistic exploration. Beijing-based filmmaker Dayyan Eng responded saying that with more foreign films entering the domestic market, local directors struggle to compete. He blames it partly on the censorship system. It’s [Censorship] restricting what we can make. And I think that everyone has been finding out, especially this year, because the local films have been killed by Hollywood. If Hollywood is allowed to make whatever they want, and actually most of them, the big budget ones anyway, are being shown in China, we are at a disadvantage because the system that’s in place to regulate or censor this things is not the same for Chinese films and for Hollywood films. Eng’s latest film, Inseparable , was the first wholly local production to feature a Hollywood star, Kevin Spacey. Eng says the censorship system influenced the way he wrote his movie. When I first started out doing the story and writing the script and even up to shooting and editing it, in a way I have to censor myself a little bit. For example, there would be certain scenes I want to do, but I would think ‘Maybe it is not going to pass the censorship if I do it this way, if I go too far’ so I tend to pull myself back little bit. Although Chinese lawmakers recognize that domestic films are facing increasing pressure to compete with foreign films, they did not directly respond to Xie Fei’s suggestions that a US-style rating system was better than China’s censorship rules. Similar proposals surfaced in 2007, after nude scenes in the Ang Lee film Lust Caution were cut before the film’s release in China. But censors put an end to the idea when a senior official from SARFT said that such a system would not be appropriate for China. But now, with a growing number of actors, directors and producers sharing their views online, it has become easier for critical voices to contribute to the national discussion. Film producer Robert Cain has consulted Hollywood and Chinese studios on co-productions since 1987. He says that by not establishing a rating system, the Chinese government is patronizing its public: There is no need to treat everyone in China like a child or an infant that can be hurt by certain topics in movies. Everyone knows that people have sex, everyone knows that crime takes place and it seems very hypocritical to me that the government wants to pretend, at least in films, that these things don’t happen in China.

Is the London Book Fair Supporting Chinese Censorship?…Should a state that bans and censors books and imprisons writers be guest of honour at the 2012 London Book Fair

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See article from guardian.co.uk by Richard Lea

Next week the London Book Fair welcomes China, the world’s largest publisher by volume, as the 2012 market focus and has teamed up with the British Council to invite around 20 Chinese writers to west London for a series of readings, discussions and talks celebrating the best in Chinese literature. But the writers who make up the delegation and the events at which they’ll be speaking have been chosen in consultation with partners including China’s General Administration of Press and Publishing (Gapp), whose responsibilities include the censorship of newspapers and publishers. According to writer Ma Jian this makes true cultural exchange impossible, and puts freedom of expression in China under yet more pressure: For China to be named guest of honour. for the British cultural establishment to be shaking hands with the Chinese head of propaganda, a man responsible for the banning and censoring of books and the imprisonment of writers, is disgraceful. …Read the full article

China Gloats…China enjoys David Cameron speaking in favour of Chinese style internet censorship

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Based on article from blogs.computerworlduk.com by Glyn Moody

Here’s a post from the Chinese News Agency Xinhua: Apparently rioters used social media, like Twitter, Facebook and the Blackberry messenger system and Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday he’s looking at banning potential troublemakers from using the online services. The British government, once an ardent advocate of absolute Internet freedom, has thus made a U-turn over its stance towards web-monitoring. In a speech delivered in Kuwait in February, the British prime minister, however, argued that freedom of expression should be respected in Tahrir Square as much as Trafalgar Square. This is sheer hypocrisy on the UK government’s part, and completely undermines its ability to criticise any other country – like China – for blocking access to the Internet or instituting online censorship. …Read the full article

 

Self Discipline Commissioners…A new euphemism for Chinese Twitter censors

Read more Asia Pacific Censorship News at MelonFarmers.co.uk

Based on article from en.rsf.org

Chinese authorities have just announced that microblogging websites – sites offering Twitter-style services – will be told to appoint self-discipline commissioners to be responsible for censorship. In a parallel development, new rules took effect on 1 September. Now anyone wanting to buy a mobile phone that uses prepaid SIM cards will have to produce identity papers while anyone already owning such a phone will have three years to register their ownership. China’s censors are giving themselves an additional layer of control, Reporters Without Borders said. The Great Firewall of China is getting human reinforcements to boost its effectiveness. But if they are held to strict performance criteria, it seems these commissioners are being assigned an impossible mission, given the volume of information circulating online for which they will be responsible. The press freedom organisation added: Nonetheless, their very existence will be dangerous because of their nuisance value and because they could encourage microbloggers to censor themselves. Meanwhile, under the pretext of combating spam, a new blow has been dealt to the personal data of China’s mobile phone users. The microblogging platforms will themselves have to hire the commissioners whose job it will be to monitor and censor anything that could threaten China’s security and social stability. They are supposed to target content linked to illegal activities, pornography and violence, as well as baseless rumours and politically sensitive issues. Although hired by the site, each commissioner will be responsible for its content and will be operationally independent.