Once again, the press fell silent in China in its coverage of a new movie. But this was not due to an edict from the Central Propaganda Department. Instead, the press went into a spontaneously self-organized rebellion to protest against restrictions on their coverage.
The story was originally published in Jiangnan Times (via MediaInChina). The movie is “The Promise” (Êó†ÊûÅ) directed by veteran director Chen Kaige (ÈôàÂáØÊ≠å). On September 23, the reporters in the city of Chengdu found out from the routine press releases that this new movie will be screened there. While the movie has not gone into general release, it was going to be screened before October 1 for seven days in Chengdu in order to qualify for nomination as Best Foreign Film at the Oscars Award. There are many historical precedents, such as Zhang Yimo’s “Hero” being screened in the city of Shenzhen for seven days in order to qualify for the Oscars too.
All the newspaper reporters were excited and shifted their focus from the Super Girls to this movie. Yet, from September 30 onwards, there was no coverage about “The Promise” at all in the Chengdu media. What happened?
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