‘One Second’ Pulled-out of the Berlin Film Festival

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‘Better Days’ had an uninspiring debut in Bangkok and it is already facing hard days in the year 2020. It has been no help to set an image for the Chinese Film Industry. Another movie, ‘One Second’ is based on Cultural Revolution which is directed by very celebrated director Zhang Yimou has been taken away from the 69^th Berlin Film Festival, where it was to compete in the main competition.

It was informed through a statement via the film’s official Weibo account that the film had been pulled off for ‘technical reasons.’ This reason is quite often used in China for government censorship hindrances. Festival organizers confirmed this pull-out.

This unforeseen withdrawal of the Chinese great, Zhang, is a big loss for him. His greatest works include being the creative mind behind the 2008 Summer Olympic Games held in Beijing and directing ‘Raise the Red Lantern.’

China is already infamous for its censorship; it is still scarce to see a film being pulled out so close to the competition date. This unanticipated pull-out has caused criticization in the critics’ circle in China and this adds to the worries of the Communist Party of China and the accusations against them for oppressing dissent.

The Directors and the Producers were not available for comment on this incident. Festival organizers also declined to give any more details.

This withdrawal has left many fearing and confused as Mr Zhang is a seasoned Chinese filmmaker who knows how the censorship board works yet he had to suffer. This makes the situation very troublesome for young filmmakers.

The political sensitive topic which ‘One Second’ deals with has been always dodged by the Chinese Communist Party. It tells the story of a man who escapes a Chinese prison farm during the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976. This has been kind of a taboo for the communist party as they haven’t allowed any films to be made on this topic. Yet, some filmmakers have found a loophole in this hindrance and have managed to create artistic films on the same topic.

Examples— ‘Red Amnesia’ and ‘Coming Home’