Independent filmmaking is tough anywhere in the world, but in China, especially, it is not a vocation for the faint of heart. A recent attempt to hold a festival of independent film at a public art gallery in front of 500 people was thrown into chaos after a power failure in the middle of the first screening. Although the authorities denied any interference in the Ninth Beijing Independent Film Festival last month, organizers said local officials had warned them not to show the opening film, “Egg and Stone,” directed by Huang Ji, which is about sexual abuse in a rural family, in a public space. When the power went out, officials showed up and apologized, but then did nothing, witnesses said.
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Arts