GUANGZHOU/LOS ANGELES -- China-born director Chloe Zhao became the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for best director for her film "Nomadland" on Sunday, but her accomplishment was barely reported in China. This is believed to be because of a past remark that was perceived as criticism of China. China's tightening of control over speech has cast a shadow over the biggest festival in the film industry.
Zhao, 39, who left China as a teenager and studied in Britain and the United States, emphasized her Chinese roots in her acceptance speech. "I've been thinking a lot lately of how I keep going when things get hard, and I think it goes back to something I learned when I was a kid. When I was growing up in China," she said, before reciting a line from a Chinese classic text in Chinese and explaining its meaning as "people at birth are inherently good."
"Nomadland" was also awarded best picture.
In China, some online media published news flashes about Zhao's victory, but the posts were soon deleted. Her acceptance speech has also gone largely unreported. Hashtags including the Chinese title for the movie "Nomadland" could not be displayed on China's Twitter-like platform Weibo.
The movie had been scheduled to be screened in China from last Friday, but the situation took a sudden turn early last month after the recirculation of a remark Zhao made in a 2013 interview with U.S. media in which she reportedly referred to China as "a place where there are lies everywhere."
Screenings of the film were canceled partly due to growing criticism from netizens who tend to be anti-American.
In Hong Kong, where China's influence is growing rapidly, the Academy Awards ceremony was not broadcast live for the first time in 53 years despite its large movie industry. It is likely because the authorities thought it was problematic that "Do Not Split," a film about Hong Kong's 2019 protests, was nominated for the best documentary short. There were also reports that China's propaganda authority had ordered television stations in mainland China and Hong Kong not to broadcast the ceremony.
Yet, open criticism has not been heard from the U.S. film industry, which is normally sensitive to "freedom of expression." The Chinese market is indispensable for the U.S. film industry, which relies on overseas markets for nearly 70% of its box office revenue. The Chinese market ranked first in the world in box office revenue last year and is expected to continue to grow. A Universal Studio theme park is also due to open in Beijing in May.
Funding for film productions is also increasingly reliant on Chinese money. "Hollywood cannot survive by relying on the mature U.S. market alone, so we cannot completely turn our backs on China," a film industry insider said.
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