AFP/Beijing
Chinese organisers of an independent film festival shut down by authorities said yesterday they had merely been exercising basic freedoms, as a broad clampdown on expression in the country intensifies.
Li Xianting and Wang Hongwei were detained on Saturday after police closed the 11th Beijing Independent Film Festival on its opening day. They were released later that evening.
The two told reporters however that agencies, including one that enforces laws covering the cultural industry in Beijing, had opened an investigation.
They must appear before authorities again on Thursday and present various documents including a business licence, according to a paper they showed reporters.
“Freedom to create, freedom of expression - these are basic rights,” said Li, a film critic and founder of the Li Xianting Film Fund.
Police had prevented film industry workers and the audience from attending the festival before it was shut down, organisers said on Saturday. Li and Wang, who is the festival’s artistic director, were then taken for questioning.
The festival has regularly run afoul of authorities. Its opening day last year was disrupted although organisers continued the event in defiance. Heavy security also turned out in 2012, when state media reported that the event was interrupted by a power cut.
Local police told AFP on Saturday that they were not aware of the festival.
China maintains a tight grip on information, with the media controlled by the government and online social networks subject to heavy censorship.
Beijing Independent Film Festival organisers Li Xianting (right) and Wang Hongwei speak to the media in Beijing yesterday.
