Hong Kong director Kiwi Chow has had his latest feature film banned from distribution on national security grounds. This decision, without detailed explanation, confirms, according to him, the drastic erosion of artistic freedom in Hong Kong.
A ban that speaks volumes
Announced after several months of silence, the ban on Deadline came as no surprise to Kiwi Chow. The 46-year-old filmmaker, who has become an emblematic figure of protest cinema since Ten Years (2015), confirmed that Hong Kong authorities rejected his new film on the grounds that it would harm national security—without specifying how. The Film, Newspaper and Articles Administration Bureau has not commented on this specific case.
Filmed in Taiwan after Hong Kong schools refused to host the crew, Deadline is a metaphorical thriller set in a fictional world. But despite its fictional setting, it hasn't escaped the new censorship rules, tightened since the adoption of the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, followed by stricter film regulations in 2021. Since then, according to data reported by AFP, thirteen films have been banned and fifty others forced to be modified in Hong Kong.
A creation under surveillance
This atmosphere of control has led many artists to practice self-censorship. “If a film addresses, even remotely, the real political situation in Hong Kong, no one will take the risk of producing it,” Kiwi Chow told AFP. The director, whose fame grew with Revolution of Our Times—a documentary about the 2019 pro-democracy protests presented at Cannes in 2021—says he had psychologically prepared himself for legal action. It never materialized, but the impact was very real: funding withdrawn, collaborators absent, logistical obstacles.
Despite these obstacles, Kiwi Chow continues to champion socially conscious cinema. He admits he has to adapt his methods—smaller budgets, more symbolic narratives—but remains committed to filming in Hong Kong. “I’m not giving up,” he insists, even though supporters who attended Deadline in Taiwan reported being searched upon their return at the airport, with no comment from Hong Kong customs.
While Hong Kong was once renowned for the vitality and freedom of its cinema, Kiwi Chow's trajectory illustrates the increasing closure of an artistic space long perceived as a bastion of freedom in Asia.
