Academy Awards will not be broadcast on TV in Hong Kong

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Scene from "Do not slip": If the film got an Oscar, it would not be seen in Hong Kong

Photo: Hammertime / Sundance Institute

For the first time in over half a century, the Oscars will not be broadcast in Hong Kong.

For "purely commercial" considerations, it was decided not to broadcast the gala this year, said a spokeswoman for TVB, whose English-language channel had broadcast the ceremony since 1969.

It is unclear whether the Academy Awards will air on April 25 in mainland China.

Bloomberg news agency reported earlier this month that the Communist Party of China's propaganda department had ordered all state-controlled media on the mainland to downplay Hollywood's top awards and not show the gala live.

One reason is apparently the nomination of a documentary about the protest movement in the Chinese Special Administrative Region.

The film “Do not split” was nominated in the “Best Documentary Short Film” category.

It deals with the democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019. Since then, Beijing has increasingly restricted the former British colony's autonomy rights and muzzled the pro-democratic opposition.

Political pressure is increasing

Political pressure and self-censorship have also increased significantly in the cultural sector.

In the past few weeks, cinemas withdrew a documentary film about the protests and a university canceled a planned exhibition of press photos.

On Monday, Hong Kong's new contemporary art museum, M +, announced that Ai Weiwei's photo of Tiananmen Square with his middle finger outstretched will not be in its inaugural exhibition.

He has not yet announced whether China's state television broadcaster CCTV, which has broadcast previous Oscar awards, will show this year's event.

The media are strictly censored on the mainland.

feb / AFP