MCLC: Xie Fei says censorship killing art

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: Xie Fei says censorship killing art
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Source: BBC News (12/17/12):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20754644

Director Xie Fei says China censorship is 'killing' art

Award-winning Chinese director Xie Fei has accused his country's
censorship rules of "killing artistic exploration" in an open letter to
authorities.

Xie, whose films include Woman Sesame Oil Maker, which won the Berlin Film
Festival's Golden Bear prize in 1993 - has not made a film since 2000.

He urged censors to give clearer rules on banned topics.

Currently, China has no film rating system similar to those used in the UK
in the US.

Films must be deemed suitable for all audiences.

Xie wrote that China's system "long ago lost its real social, economic,
ideological and cultural significance".

He added that it "has only become a corrupt black spot for controlling the
prosperity of the cultural and entertainment industry, killing artistic
exploration and wasting administrative resources".

It has meant that many western films have been subject to cuts in order to
be released. China also maintains a quota on the number of foreign movies
that can be shown in cinemas.

Just 20 a year are released, although the government has been trying to
attract foreign studios to form joint ventures with China.

In March, Disney rival DreamWorks unveiled plans to build a studio in
Shanghai and the third film in the Iron Man series, starring Robert Downey
Jr, was co-produced in China.

Xie's last film was 2000's Song of Tibet but recently he has been working
as artistic consultant on a movie about controversial military leader Lin
Biao, who was killed in 1971 after a failed coup against Chairman Mao -
founder of the Chinese communist party.

The film also includes homosexuality as a theme and has been awaiting
approval for four months.

In his letter, Xie urged censors to "move from the current administrative
review system to a rating system that allows for a self-governed and
self-disciplined film industry, bound by legal restrictions and
administrative supervision".

Xie, who is a professor at Beijing Film Academy, said: "Our current review
system is not the rule by law, but the rule by man, something that we
wanted to end a long time ago."

Earlier this month, Mo Yan - the winner of this year's Nobel Prize for
Literature, voiced his support for censorship in China
<http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1099746/nobel-literature-winner-mo-
yan-defends-censorship-must>, comparing it with airport security checks.

He said he hoped it "should have the highest principle".

His Nobel prize was met with some criticism because of his close ties with
the Chinese authorities.