A Chinese film-maker is to sue state administrators in a quest to discover how and why his gay-themed documentary was removed from local streaming sites, in a legal case that could have powerful ramifications for film censorship in the world’s most populous nation.
Fan Popo says his documentary Mama Rainbow, which follows six Chinese mothers as they learn to love their gay or lesbian children, disappeared without explanation from video sites such as Youku, Tudou and 56.com in 2014.
The director had uploaded the documentary to keep it in the public eye after his film completed its short run at US and Asian film festivals in 2012. So he was disappointed when 56.com managers informed him that China’s censor SARFT, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, had issued the company with instructions to remove the movie.
Yet SARFT officials later officially denied having any involvement in censorship of Mama Rainbow, so Fan has decided to sue the censor in the Beijing court in an effort to find out what really happened. Last week, state-backed newspaper Global Times confirmed the case would be heard – a victory in itself in China’s government-controlled courts.
“I just want justice and an explanation,” Fan told the Hollywood Reporter. “SARFT and 56.com have given me two completely different statements. It’s a terrible feeling to see something you worked on for years just suddenly disappear.”
China has a complex perspective on homosexuality which tends to feed into the approach of film censors. Earlier this month the state approved public screenings of a movie featuring gay characters in leading roles for the first time, the romance Seek McCartney. But many families, institutions and even educational textbooks still treat gay relationships as a problem that needs to be fixed, and observers suspect Seek McCartney’s approval may have been a one-off fostered by the liberal attitudes of the specific censor who gave its release the green light. The Oscar-winning film Brokeback Mountain, which features a gay romance, was banned under anti-pornography regulations in 2005 despite the celebrated status of its Taiwanese director, Ang Lee, in China.
Nevertheless, Fan and his lawyer Wang Zhenyu are delighted that their suit is to be heard, win or lose. “We hope the court will bring justice to the case,” Wang told the Hollywood Reporter. “But we also hope that the case will raise public concern over the issue of film censorship in China.”
