Hong Kong’s film censorship law does not apply to government screenings, the city’s censorship authority has said after local media reported that a police publicity film was screened at police headquarters despite not having gone through the official vetting process.
The Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA) told HKFP on Monday that the Film Censorship Ordinance did not apply to films shown by the government.
Under the ordinance, which was amended in 2021 to include national security clauses, all films must be approved by OFNAA to be screened publicly in Hong Kong. Any that are deemed contrary to national security can be barred from screening, or the authority can request changes such as the removal of certain scenes.
A screening of Guarding Our City with Faith: the Prequel, a Hong Kong Police Force promotional film, was held at the police headquarters in Wan Chai last Tuesday. The film featured police chief Raymond Siu, and at least three other top officers.
OFNAA added that the film screening at the police headquarters was exempt from the Ordinance, but screenings of the same movie organised by non-governmental organisations would still have to seek approval.
As of Monday, the film could not be found in OFNAA’s film classification records.
The movie, lasting just over half an hour, was the second police publicity video published in just over two years.
The first film, Guarding Our City, was released in January 2021, and the 14-minute-long clip involved over 600 officers, according to police.
According to a Monday search of OFNAA records by HKFP, Guarding Our City did not appear on the film classification record.
Since the enactment of the Beijing-imposed national security law in June 2020, there have been more reports of filmmakers being asked to cut scenes from their movies, including one that showed a 2014 Umbrella Movement scene that lasted less than a second.
The police also told HKFP on Monday that the Film Censorship Ordinance did not apply to the government.
“Guarding Our City with Faith: the Prequel, is a police publicity video to promote a positive image of the police and foster cooperation between the police and residents, and should not be compared with for-profit commercial films,” the police said.
The police added that they welcomed supportive organisations to hold free public screenings, and that the film had received a permit for public screening purposes.
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