Richard Moore is one OK guy. He it is, you may remember, director of the Melbourne International Film Festival, who has stood firm against the blandishments of Ken ('cultural freedom') Loach. Now Moore has run into difficulty with another party:
The Melbourne International Film Festival has been disrupted by the withdrawal of three Chinese films in what appears to be retaliation for its backing of a documentary about exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer.
The Chinese Government had demanded the festival dump the Australian-made documentary The 10 Conditions of Love, which is about Ms Kadeer and her fight for greater rights for China's 10 million Uighurs.
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The festival director, Richard Moore, said yesterday it was a major disruption and uncalled for. "I am obviously upset because we have supported the work of these filmmakers in the past," Mr Moore said. "People get passionate about their films every year but this... I wasn't expecting this amount of dissent from outside forces."Asked whether he believed Chinese filmmakers had been pressured to withdraw by the Chinese Government, Mr Moore said it was extremely sensitive. "I can't comment further."
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The French producer of Petition, Sylvie Blum, told the Herald last night from Paris that she had to be careful what she said to protect the film's director, Zhao Liang. "I don't want my director to be afterwards worried by the Chinese police," she said. "He asked me to withdraw the film from the festival because if not it could have created problems for him continuing to work in China."
Ken and the Chinese government both, hey - eminent film-maker of the left and... er, a bunch of rulers not exactly wedded to democratic norms and practices. Who would have thought they'd be united in believing that they should have a say in the running of someone else's film festival? (Thanks: FG.)