Private screening of documentary on 4 June cancelled due to 'politically sensitive' reasons

Golden Scene Cinema has cancelled the private screening of a documentary To Be Continued (尚未完場) scheduled on 4 June due to politically sensitive reasons.

This comes as online shopping platform AsOne (如一) planned to take over the cinema on 4 June for a private screening of the documentary To Be Continued. The documentary features the history of State Theatre in North Point and its founder Harry Odell. A 30-minute talk with two director of the documentary was also scheduled after the screening.

However, AsOne announced on Facebook that Golden Scene Cinema was reminded by some industry representatives that 4 June is a sensitive date and people should avoid having gathering events. The cinema therefore decided to take down the screening.“This day is really special that we can’t even go out to watch movies,” the statement read.  

The cancellation of the screening has drawn mixed reactions across social platforms, with some netizens questioning why the documentary is politically sensitive, while some suggested the organiser to rearrange the screening to other dates that are not "sensitive", a check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw on Facebook.

Don't miss: Screening of short film pulled from local film festival after failing to get censors’ approval

According to a report by The Standard, the founder of AsOne Derek Chu said that the platform chose to hold the screening on June 4  because both directors are not available on weekdays. He added that while the previous screenings went smoothly, the sudden cancellation of this screening was unexpected.

Meanwhile, Tenky Tin, former chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers said that the documentary should be allowed to be screened after it was granted a certificate by OFNAA (Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration), according to the report. He also urged the cinema to explain its decision of the cancellation of the screening and who the "industry representatives" are.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Golden Scene Cinema for more information. 

Back in April, The screening of an independent short film Wake In Silence (於是我安靜了) has been pulled from a local film festival after it failed to gain approval the local film censors. Independent short film producer Phone Made Good Film (豐美股肥) said that OFNAA had refused to issue a permit for the scheduled screening of Wake In Silence as a few shots were “potentially seditious intent.” A check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw that one of the scenes features a flag with the words “100% freedom”. The flag was launched in 2019 by the disbanded pro-democracy political organisation Demosisto (香港眾志) and was being sold in the Lunar New Year Fair.

Photo courtesy: Facebook page @尚未完場 To Be Continued

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