China Tightens Grip on Hong Kong With Planned Electoral System Changes

Rebecca Davis editorTop Chinese director Feng Xiaogang will step in front of the camera alongside Chinese-American actor-director Joan Chen in a local adaptation of the 2009 Hollywood tearjerker “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale,” which began shooting Thursday.It is currently set to premiere on New Year’s Eve.Feng is best known for his work as a director on films such as “Youth,” “I Am Not Madame Bovary” and “Cellphone,” but he has also frequently taken on acting roles, with his most recent starring role in

Rebecca Davis editorAfter years of pining for Hollywood accolades, China has more to celebrate about the Academy’s nominations this year than it has in nearly a decade. But its own politics have prevented its media and many of its citizens from rejoicing.While Beijing’s submission, the propagandistic volleyball drama “Leap,” fell flat, Taiwan’s “A Sun” was shortlisted for Best International Feature Film and Hong Kong’s “Better Days” unexpectedly nabbed one of five nominations.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefDespite a period of recent worries for Chinese tech firms, video entertainment firm Bilibili has confirmed details of its secondary share listing in Hong Kong. It set a maximum price of HK$988 per share, some 12% higher than the $113.31 Tuesday night close for its ADR form shares which are traded on the NASDAQ.At that price the company is expected to raise $3.2 billion (HK$24.7 billion).

The Oscar for "best documentary short subject" tends to be somewhat overlooked amid the glitz and glamor of the Academy Awards ceremony. But the under-appreciated category is fast becoming a major sticking point in China this year.

Hong Kong protests was nominated for an award, according to a new report. The Communist Party’s propaganda department issued the order to all media outlets, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources.

Paddington Bear is heading to small screens in the Middle Kingdom. StudioCanal has partnered with Shanghai Senyu Media to bring its animated kids' series The Adventures of Paddington to mainland China, with the distributor representing the show at the virtual Filmart in Hong Kong.

The Chinese government has told local media to curb its coverage of the Oscars ceremony next month due to its concerns about the political views of Best Director nominee Chloe Zhao and the nomination of a short documentary about the Hong Kong protests.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Chinese government has reportedly told its local media channels not to transmit live coverage of the Oscars and to down play the awards ceremony.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefVivendi-owned European film and TV studio Studiocanal has sealed a deal with Shanghai Senyu Media to represent Studiocanal’s “The Adventures of Paddington Bear” animated series in mainland China. Rights are being promoted at the virtual edition of Hong Kong rights market FilMart.The series debuted on Nickelodeon in western markets and has already delivered two seasons.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese director Cai Chengjie will follow up his Rotterdam prize-winning first feature with “Splash,” a new project that daringly takes on the topic of sexual assault.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese helmer Xu Lei will return to the subject of rural life in northern China for his second feature “The Peacemaker,” one of the 20 narrative film projects selected to participate in the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum this year.Xu’s suspenseful and darkly humorous first film “Summer Detective,” which he wrote and directed, was nominated for best feature and won the prize for best script at the 2019 FIRST International Film Festival, which focuses on emerging talent.

Inside the Red Brick Wall” has been pulled out from a local cinema before it could be shown to a ticket-buying public. Pro-Beijing forces in the city have alleged that the film may violate the June 2020 National Security Law.Golden Scene Cinema announced on its Instagram Stories page on Monday that screenings of “Inside the Red Brick Wall” later that day and others scheduled for March 21 will be canceled.

Vivienne Chow Television Broadcasts, Hong Kong’s leading TV group, is set to boost its variety and music programs following a recent management reshuffle. It aims to bring back veteran entertainers who have experience and profile on the mainland Chinese market in order that the station can expand its foothold in the Greater Bay Area.The new appointments come after a difficult year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese indie sales agency Blossoms Entertainment returns to FilMart with a slate of large-scale commercial pictures sourced from a clutch of China’s biggest film studios.The agency, operated by former IM Global staffers Vicky Ding and Leslie Chen, is pre-selling “Railway Heroes,” a tale of heroism and wartime sabotage which is targeting a National Day release in October.

You know it’s a good week on Real Time when the two stories that have consumed the week’s news — the accusations against Andrew Cuomo and the accusations against the Royal Family — take a backseat to weightier topics such as crony capitalism and the hegemony of China.

Rebecca Davis editorTensions between China and the U.K. flared this week after Beijing summoned Britain’s ambassador to China to chastize her for an article she wrote defending the role of independent foreign press in the country.The latest tussle comes amid a backdrop of strain between the countries over matters such as human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the deteriorating political situation in Hong Kong, and lately, differences on the role of the foreign press.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentBerlin Grand Jury Prize winner “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” Japanese writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s deft three-story reflection on chance, the legacy of love and the contrariness of erotic desire, has clinched further key territory sales for its sales agent M-Appeal World Sales.Fast on the footsteps of clinching the top Berlinale 2021 Silver Bear in March 5’s Berlin prize announcement, “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” this week closed Spain

coronavirus outbreak and abuses against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, and the British governments decision to open a pathway for residency and eventual citizenship for millions of Hong Kong residents.China last month banned the BBC from the small number of hotels, residential compounds and offices where it had been shown, in apparent retaliation for its reporting on China and Britain's revocation of the license of state-owned Chinese broadcaster CGTN.Britain has condemned a Chinese crackdown on

Rebecca Davis editorFive competitive local titles have announced as of Monday that they will be vying for box office supremacy in China over the May 1 Labor Day weekend, a public holiday.They include a long-anticipated video game adaptation, an omnibus pandemic film helmed by three different female big shots from China, Hong Kong and the U.S., a sleek Aaron Kwok-starring thriller, a TV series adaptation and the first title from helmer Li Yu not to star the now-disgraced Fan Bingbing in 14

the upcoming CW drama series, led by ' Olivia Liang and legendary actor Tzi Ma, and only ET exclusively premieres the action-packed minute-long promo. (See the first photos from .)A modern-day reimagining of the 1970s series and starring a predominantly Asian cast, follows a young Chinese American woman, Nicky Shen (Liang), who drops out of college and goes on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China.