'Unacceptable': Award-winning writer talks about Beijing censored film broadcast in Australia

If you watch the film China One Second on a streaming platform, you won’t see credit to the author whose book inspired the film.

That’s because Chinese authorities have managed to remove any mention of the globally renowned Chinese-American writer Yan Geling, both in China and abroad.

The film — directed by renowned Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou — is available in Australia from platforms including Prime Video, Google Play and Apple TV.

“I can understand if you don’t want to include my name because censorship doesn’t allow it in China,” Yan told the ABC from his home in Berlin.

“However, this kind of practice is not acceptable abroad. The initial and life spirit of a work is given by the original author.”

Director Zhang Yimou directed the opening ceremonies for the 2008 and 2022 Beijing Olympics.(Reuters: Christina Charisius)

Born in Shanghai into a family of artists, Yan – a prolific book writer and screenwriter who has won more than 30 literary and film awards and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – began his writing career in the 1980s.

He has published more than 40 books in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, US, UK and elsewhere.

But he is now considering giving up writing in Chinese and writing in English instead.

“If this is the price I have to pay, then I will pay it. There is no other way,” he said.

Yan Geling said he would write his next book in English instead of Chinese.(Reuters: Bobby Yipo)

The 63-year-old wondered if she had unknowingly censored her own writing because of China’s strict censorship practices.

“I think being censored for a long time, a person will develop a subconscious self-censorship,” he said.

“And it will dominate you when you make words and sentences.”

Prime Video, Google Play or Apple TV were all reached for comment but have not yet responded.

Self-censorship is widespread in China’s film industry

Yan Geling said the film One Second was inspired by his novel, The Criminal Lu Yanshi.(Weibo: @Dianying Yimiaozhong)

Censorship in China is back in the spotlight after the country’s National Radio and Television Administration this month ruled artists should produce more “high-quality works” that “adhere to the politically correct direction” of China.

It came after President Xi Jinping ordered the arts industry to “tell the story of China and spread China’s voice to strengthen the country’s international communication capacity”.

Yan Geling’s name was banned on Chinese social media after he criticized authorities for censoring information during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He later also criticized Xi for women’s rights, after a video of a woman chained in a warehouse sparked a debate about human trafficking in China.

After that public comment, Yan said his name had been removed from the credits in One Second, the second film inspired by his novel, The Criminal Lu Yanshi.

Chinese authorities censor any media content that can be deemed to “disturb” China’s stability or “harm” the country’s unity and sovereignty.

Artists say Beijing deliberately blurred the definition to instill fear in writers.

In the film, this can translate into censoring scenes with sexual content, violence, or references to politically sensitive issues such as the Tiananmen Square massacre.

In addition to not praising him in One Second, audiences said that Chinese filmmakers also removed political references to the Cultural Revolution, essentially censoring the script itself.

This is not the first time that Yan’s book adaptation has been changed.

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He said a 2009 television series based on his novel Little Aunt Crane was also censored during production.

The ABC contacted the General Administration of Press and Publications of China and One Second’s production company, Huanxi Media Group, for comment but received no response.

Timmy Chen — who specializes in Chinese-language cinema at Hong Kong Baptist University — says self-censorship in China’s film industry is widespread.

Dr Chen said that, if the writers had not self-censored, their film might not have been shown.

“They censor themselves for the sake of investment, audience and production team,” he said.

“It would kill a film if they didn’t do that.

“It did have a huge impact on the artist.”

Censorship in China is a two-way street: Some Hollywood films and television series have been altered in the past so that American content can access Chinese screens.

The Chinese box office is the second largest box office in the world.

Chinese censors changed the ending of Fight Club, and also changed the clothing logo on Top Gun: Maverick, removing the Taiwanese and Japanese flags from the bomber jackets.

Chinese movies need the famous ‘dragon code’

In China, 10 censors have to watch a film as part of a process to decide whether it can be shown to the public.(AP: Mark Schiefelbein)

As Dr Chen explains, filmmakers in China go through a rigorous three-step screening process before a film is shown.

“The first part is that your script has to pass review before you can start shooting,” he said.

Once the script is approved by China’s National Radio and Television Administration, a state agency that issues broadcasting licenses, investors, cast members, and the production team can join forces and make the film.

Before being released in China, all films must obtain this dragon code, or Public Film Screening Permit.(Source: YouTube)

After the film was shot, there were two post-production reviews by the China Film Administration, which approved the film’s distribution and screening in theaters.

Dr Chen says that this second step allows the film to get a “dragon code”, an official seal of approval (literally an animated dragon) that plays on screen before the actual film starts.

However, getting the famous dragon code does not mean a film can be successfully screened in theaters.

The third step, called a “technical check”, requires 10 censors to sit in the internal theater, and decide whether the film can be shown to the public.

Their approval is a collective decision and passing the test means a film gets at least six votes to get the green light.

Dr Chen said filmmakers were aware that sensitive content could cause films to be removed or altered.

“If your film doesn’t reflect the positive energy of the nation, you have to cut it and change it for review,” he said.

Yan Geling says he has reached a point where the impact of censorship on film, and the arts industry more broadly, is too far-reaching.

If compromise is the price, I’d rather not [write] anything,” he said.

After his name was banned on social media, a fan club with 16,000 members was disbanded.

“The hardest thing for me is having to leave [Chinese] readers, who love me,” he said.

“I don’t think they want me to compromise either.”

However, she plans to continue writing and is currently working on a book in English for her daughter, whom she adopted from China.

The book will be about China’s One Child Policy and the history of the Yan family.

“I still have a few more books in the future that I think are all in my destiny,” he said.

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