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Li and Fang banned from film-making |
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Written by Clifford Coonan
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Friday, 04 January 2008 |
BEIJING – China's censors have banned the makers of the steamy "Lost in Beijing"
for screening an unapproved version of the pic at the Berlinale last year and
for obscenity, the latest in a litany of controversies to dog the project.
"Lost" tells of a relationship between a Beijing massage parlor boss, played
by Hong Kong thesp Tony Leung, and his employee, played by mainland starlet Fan
Bingbing set in contempo China.
Chinese censors have specifically objected
to scenes that depict gambling and sex in the film, but the overall tone of the
pic was always set to raise official hackles.
The Film Bureau told Fang last
year that "Lost," helmed by Li Yu, one of the country's few emerging female
helmers, could not go to the Berlinale because a censorship committee was
unhappy with the moral tone of the film.
In the end it screened uncut as the
producers said there was insufficient time to make changes. Pic opened in
theaters in China on November 30 but now the makers have been banned for what
SARFT says are violating regulations by submitting an unapproved version of the
film to the fest.
The film makers, co-production company Beijing Laurel
Films and producer Fang Li were also banned for illegally distributing
unapproved and pornographic clips online, SARFT said.
This appears to be the
crux of the ban, which rules Fang out of any involvement in the film biz for the
next two years although he is appealing the decision.
"We are the victims in
this whole thing. One of our unprocessed, unedited images was stolen and
distributed on the internet," Fang Li said in a telephone interview.
Fang
also produced "Summer Palace," whose helmer Lou Ye was banned from working for
five years after the pic appeared in the Cannes competition without Chinese
permission.
"Our material was stolen and I'm being made to take the
responsibility. I'm the victim of a thief – I'm surprised, it's a big shock. The
movie has been in theaters for weeks," said Fang, who said he would meet the
Film Bureau next week to discuss the issue.
© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 08 January 2008 )
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