After four months of waiting, Hong Kong filmmaker Kiwi Chow received a message he had feared: censors had banned his latest film from local cinemas.
The 46-year-old director’s career reflects the shrinking space for artistic freedom in a once-bold film industry, now constrained by tighter political controls.
His new thriller, Deadline, follows an elite school shaken by warnings of an impending suicide, which Chow described as an allegory of hyper-competition under capitalism.
Although filmed in Taiwan and set in what Chow called an “imaginary world,” the film was deemed by censors to be “contrary to the interests of national security,” without explanation.
Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 after mass pro-democracy protests, with film censorship rules tightened the following year.
Chow said the changes led to widespread self-censorship, adding that no one now makes films touching Hong Kong’s real political situation.
The government said it would not comment on individual cases, but acknowledged that 13 films were banned on national security grounds between 2021 and July this year.
Chow believes Deadline was rejected less for its content than for his reputation after years of challenging Beijing’s taboos, leaving him struggling to find actors, locations, and investors.
“I felt so lonely,” he said of making the film.
Chow rose to prominence with the 2015 dystopian film Ten Years, which gained a cult following after some cinemas refused to screen it.
His segment, “Self-immolator,” questioned how much Hong Kongers were willing to sacrifice for freedom and justice, a theme he said was answered during the 2019 protests.
That year, Chow documented the unrest, footage that became Revolution of Our Times, which premiered at Cannes in 2021 but was never screened locally.
While the documentary did not lead to jail, Chow said it drove away backers and nearly derailed Deadline, forcing him to shoot in Taiwan.
Despite the ban, Chow said he would not give up on Hong Kong, even if it means smaller budgets or altered scripts, as long as he can still make films there. AFP
