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‘Nomadland’ China release in doubt after nationalist backlash
BEIJING, March 6, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – A nationalist backlash to Golden Globe-
winning American road movie “Nomadland” has cast doubt over the film’s China
release after social media users and state media questioned its director
Chloe Zhao’s loyalty to her birth country.
Zhao became the first Asian woman in history to win the best director
Golden Globe and the first woman to win best drama with the semi-fictional
film, which stars Oscar winner Frances McDormand alongside a rag-tag bunch of
non-actors living on the open road in the American West.
Zhao’s win last week was initially celebrated in China, with state media
calling the Beijing-born filmmaker a “Chinese female director” and “the pride
of China.”
Chinese film authorities approved the film for a domestic release on April
23 through the government-backed National Alliance of Arthouse Cinemas, the
organisation announced on Monday.
But major online box office apps removed the release date from their
platforms after a controversy erupted over years-old comments by Zhao,
leaving the film’s release in Chinese cinemas uncertain, entertainment
magazine Variety reported Friday.
The NAAC did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for clarification.
Social media users had dug up old media interviews with Zhao soon after her
historic win in which she appeared to criticise China.
A screenshot of Zhao’s 2013 interview with Filmmaker magazine, in which she
reportedly called China “a place where there are lies everywhere,” as well as
another interview with Australian media in which she allegedly said “the US
is now my country,” circulated on Twitter-like Weibo last week.
The comments prompted online users to call her a “traitor” and social media
in China was awash with posts questioning her nationality.
Neither quote remained on the online versions of the two interviews.
The Weibo hashtag for “Nomadland” was no longer searchable on Saturday,
although discussion of the film and Zhao did not appear to be censored in any
other way.
The state-owned tabloid Global Times covered the backlash, saying Zhao had
made “controversial comments” a day after lauding her as “the pride of
China.”
But others online defended Zhao.
“She’s a director, not a politician, and has never been involved in
political activities, and her work has nothing to do with China,” one Weibo
user wrote on Saturday in defence of Zhao. “Isn’t this too harsh, regardless
of whether she has Chinese nationality?”
Another user agreed that China’s entertainment circle was “a party venue
for hypocrisy.”
China’s cinemas have almost returned to normal after the country
successfully contained domestic Covid-19 infections, a stark contrast with
theatres across the US that remain mostly shuttered as the virus continues to
ravage the country.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1209 hrs