Hong Kong director Johnnie To, a three-time best director in the Hong Kong Film Awards and a three-time Golden Horse award winner, is being silenced in China after his comments about dictators against the film industry garnered interest online.
During a Q&A at the 2023 Berlinale, a media member asked, “What makes Cinemas so special that Cinema will never die?” To, who is a jury member, responded, “I think movies are always at the forefront. When there is totalitarianism and people lose their freedom, movies are usually the first to bear the brunt. This is the case in many places. Totalitarianism tries its best to stop your culture. The culture of movies is that it goes directly into the audience, so dictators usually eliminate films first. I think Hong Kong ... No, sorry ... I think countries and people in the whole world fighting for freedom all support the movie world because it will speak for you.”
His comments led to criticism from the mainland Chinese “Little Pink or Pinkies” (cyber-nationalists in China), who accused To of insulting China. To’s Weibo account is currently non-existent, and the Chinese state-run media said that To is not far from being banned, and nine films directed or produced by Johnnie To would be made unavailable in the mainland. To has never shied away from speaking out on political issues, criticizing the Chinese Communist Party, and supporting Hong Kong chief executive candidate John Tsang.
The nine movies that are rumored to be banned include “The Greed of Man, Three Lives, Mad Fate, Tears on the Flower Street, Cover Your Eyes and See the Red Light, Handy Man, and the Teacher, and In the Qing Dynasty.” The latter stars Gordon Lam Ka-tung, Yeung Lok-man, Kara Wai Ying-hung, Peter Chan Cham-man, and others.
Commentator Pushback
In his article published on Feb. 18, cultural commentator Fung Hei-kin criticized mainland netizens for their Cultural Revolution-style criticism. He argued that even if To was talking about Hong Kong, “it’s no big deal,” and asked, “Isn’t freedom of speech and freedom of creation written in the Hong Kong Basic Law that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is flaunting to the world?” ”Is it a crime to support what the CCP has promised?”In his online program, Sze-tat Chau, a current affairs commentator, said that To never mentioned China in his remarks. He believed that the netizens and pinkies who accused him of insulting China had linked the dictator and Xi Jinping in their minds. As for the pinkies who questioned the freedom and rights of literary creators, Chau believes that freedom of speech is a prerequisite for producing excellent works and that those in power should have the breadth of mind to allow filmmakers to express themselves.
He said it is his “duty and obligation” as a filmmaker to speak out in defense of freedom of speech and creation. He lamented that only To is the one remaining great in the Hong Kong film industry that has spoken out. On the contrary, filmmakers who have benefited from Hong Kong’s free atmosphere in the past either defected to the CCP or chose to remain silent, fearing that they would lose the mainland market. They believed the comments against To on the mainland internet threatened the mainland market. He believes that To would not have failed to anticipate the “troubling consequences” of his remarks, but he still dared to speak out this time, which is commendable.
Lin Quanzhong, a scholar of international politics from Taiwan, pointed out in an article in Ming Pao on Feb. 20 that To’s answer at the Berlinale was a momentary outburst of anxiety about the increasingly extreme changes in Hong Kong’s social and liberal environment, and a “wake-up call” to Hong Kong that should not be ignored.
