A banner year for Chinese films and filmmakers at the 61st Taipei Golden Horse Awards has attracted much attention on Chinese social media, despite strict ongoing censorship of any topic connected to the awards. This year’s...
A massive food-safety scandal over the “open industry secret” of using fuel tanker-trucks to transport cooking oil and other edible products—without the tankers being washed or sanitized in between—is still generating a flood of...
Film censorship has long plagued China’s creative arts industry and stifled foreign products seeking domestic Chinese audiences. The shrinking space for artistic expression, along with rising nationalism, has exposed artists and...
Today’s quote of the day comes from a CDT Chinese faux “Dragon Seal” visual about acclaimed sixth-generation filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai’s battle to get his latest film “Above the Dust” 《沃土》(Wòtǔ, “fertile soil”) past...
Popular science and current events blogger Xiang Dongliang’s musing on the Chinese Lunar New Year 2024 is CDT’s Quote of the Day: What struck me most about CCTV’s “Year of the Dragon” Spring Festival Gala? So many adverts. How...
The following censorship instructions have been leaked and distributed online. Based on the national public memorial requirements just issued today, there will be a public mourning period from November 30 to December 7, and the...
Discontented with the ending of “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” during which the titular supervillain Gru and his partner-in-crime Wild Knuckles escape arrest alongside three yellow bean-shaped minions, China’s censors gave it...
Tencent’s streaming service has restored the original ending of “Fight Club”—undoing their own cuts after facing widespread international and domestic ridicule over their edit to the 1999 cult classic. Earlier...
In the 404 Files podcast (404档案馆), CDT Chinese tells multimedia stories of censorship and circumvention in China. The following is a translation of the transcript of Episode 36, released on October 27, a deep dive into why films...
One of China’s most famous actresses has been summarily wiped from the internet as part of a “clean up” campaign aimed at celebrity culture. Zhao Wei, who starred in the über-popular TV drama “My Fair Princess,”...
Chloé Zhao made history on Sunday as the first woman of color to win an Oscar for best director. Her film “Nomadland” also took the top prize as the 2021 best picture. But in China, the country of Zhao’s birth,...
After making history at the beginning of this month by becoming the first Asian woman to win best director for her movie “Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao was initially showered with praise from Chinese state media. That was...
Volunteer subtitle groups that translate uncensored American television shows and films are highly popular in China. Yet the future of one of the largest and most popular subtitling sites, Renren Yingshi, is murky after police...
CDT has recently acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central Party authorities to state media at the beginning of this year. These directives were issued on an almost daily basis in early 2020,...
China’s cinemas have begun to recover from an 88%, 30 billion-yuan ticket sales crash triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, reopening began in low-risk areas with mandatory masks and temperature checks, a ban on...
China’s influence in Hollywood is growing rapidly as the country’s market becomes ever...
A poster for the upcoming science fiction film Arrival has garnered angry criticism online after...
The relationship between Hollywood and China has been the focus of much recent media attention, as...
Click on the image to download Firefly for circumvention
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