The distributor of the British slasher movie “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” introduced on Tuesday that the film’s screening in Hong Kong, scheduled for this week, has been canceled. No rationalization was given for the cancellation.
VII Pillars Entertainment stated on its Facebook web page that it was with “great regret” that the film scheduled to launch on March 23 had been canceled. It didn’t present additional particulars.
Chinese censors have prior to now focused the movie’s major character, initially conceptualized by English creator A.A. Milne, as a consequence of memes that evaluate the bumbling bear to President Xi Jinping.
The comparisons started in 2013 when Xi visited the United States and met his then-counterpart Barack Obama, and a few on-line commentators seized on their likeness to Pooh and Tigger.
Some folks have used the picture of Pooh to sign dissent.
Hong Kong’s authorities didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
A ticket-booking hyperlink on its Facebook web page introduced up a message saying ticketing was briefly unavailable.
Moviematic, which had organized a movie screening for Tuesday night, reported the cancellation on its social media web page earlier within the day and cited technical causes for the cancellation.
A brand new censorship legislation within the former British colony was enacted in 2021. As a end result, some movies have been prevented from being screened within the Chinese administrative area.
The metropolis’s censorship legislation bars movies that “endorse, support, glorify, encourage and incite activities that might endanger national security.”
After anti-government protests rocked town, Beijing imposed a nationwide safety legislation on Hong Kong in 2020. The legislation punishes something deemed subversion, secession, colluding with international forces, and terrorism.
Two movies had been dropped from Hong Kong’s worldwide movie competition final yr after failing to safe approval from authorities.
The cancellation comes as Hong Kong hosts the Art Basel modern artwork honest, with authorities eager to advertise town as a vibrant cultural hub.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
