Seek McCartney (Photo : Weibo)
Has China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) changed its policy when it comes to gay films? Or does the censor have different policies when it comes to depicting same-sex relationships on cinema and television?
After the SAPPRFT banned “Addiction,” which depicted high school male students in a homosexual relationship, the same agency just approved the trailer for "Seek McCartney," reported What’s on Weibo? Also titled “Looking for Rohmer,” the movie was first shown at the 67th Cannes Festival in 2014.
The story revolves around the secret relationship between a French man, played by actor Jeremie Elkaim, and a Chinese man, played by pop singer and actor Han Geng, as they journey in Tibet. It is a co-production of China and France, and directed by Wang Chao, the director of “The Orphan of Anyang.”
As early as August 2015, Wang had written on his Weibo account that the SAPPRFT approved the movie’s trailer. Han also hinted the next day that the movie would soon be shown in China and make history as the first gay movie to be exhibited in the country.
But QDaily noted that the trailer has no indicators of a gay relationship which the newspaper believes was deliberately edited by the producers to get the green light from the censor which released recently new guidelines that bans depiction of homosexuality in cinemas because same-sex relationship conveys “unnatural” values of love.
Prior to the issuance of the regulation, Fan Popo, a gay Chinese activist and film director, filed a lawsuit against the censors and won over the pullout in December 2014 of his 2012 documentary on homosexuality “Mama Rainbow” from all online video platforms.
Fan criticized China’s system for evaluating movies as very unstable due to unclear rules, reported Gay Star News. He said, “The fact that this film can be released in theatres doesn’t mean gay films in the future will be able to release in China.”
