Hong Kong authorities announced, on Friday, that all films are subject to scrutiny, to ensure that they do not “violate national security”, under additional powers granted to the censorship body, in a new step in controlling political and artistic freedoms in the city.

The regional government said, in a statement, that “the film censorship law has been expanded to include any work or activity that may amount to a crime that poses a threat to national security.”

The new directives, which entered into force immediately, stated that “when considering the film as a whole, and the extent of its impact on viewers, the person performing the censorship mission must respect his duties to prevent any actions or activities that endanger national security.”

The statement noted “the common responsibility of the people of Hong Kong to safeguard the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the People’s Republic of China.”

The new step means that the method of censorship of films used in mainland China has reached Hong Kong.

“An attack on freedom”
“This new censorship will make it more difficult for local filmmakers in Hong Kong to use their democratic rights to make artistic work and challenge unfair bodies of power,” Norwegian director Anders Hammer told AFP.

“It’s been two years since the pro-democracy protests began, and I regret to see another serious example of Beijing’s assault on civil liberties in Hong Kong,” added the director, who was nominated for an Oscar for his documentary “Do Not Split” on the Hong Kong protests.

Films are tightly censored in mainland China, where only a handful of Western commercial films and documentaries are allowed to be released each year, and Hong Kong’s “film censorship authority” has long been less strict.

A government spokesman stated that those responsible for censoring films will work to “balance between protecting individual rights and freedoms on the one hand, and protecting legitimate societal interests on the other.”

The authorities of Hong Kong, which enjoys semi-autonomous rule, launched a massive security campaign to root out opponents of Beijing after the city was rocked in 2019 by massive demonstrations punctuated by violence.

A new law imposed by China and an official campaign called “Patriots Rule Hong Kong” have criminalized most forms of dissent since then, and the pro-democracy movement has been clamped down, with films becoming the last target.

Moroccan cinema will participate in the official international competition for feature films at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, to be held from July 6-17, through the film “Ali Your Voice” by Nabil Ayouch.

The film “Ali Your Voice”, which will be shown worldwide for the first time, revolves around the success story of rapper Anas Basbousi, known as “Anas Baws”, in the world of the unknown bands “underground” and his founding of the first “hip-hop” school in Morocco and Casablanca.

The film stars Anas Basbousi, Ismail Adwab, and Maryam Nakash. His candidacy sparked widespread controversy in the Moroccan cinematic community, as some considered that this choice was not the first for Morocco in the official international competition of the festival, while others considered that Nabil Ayouch’s work and his artistic vision did not represent Moroccan cinema.

previous participation
Moroccan director and film critic, Abdelilah El Gohary, said that the film “Ali Your Voice” is the first Moroccan fiction work to participate in the Cannes Film Festival in the international competition on the grounds that before that participation was in the name of Morocco as a co-production, but by non-Moroccan directors.

El-Gohary added to “Al-Sharq”, that Morocco participated almost 4 times in the Cannes Festival, but for foreign directors, the first was with the movie “Othello” by American director Orson Welles in 1952, and he won the Palme d’Or, and four years later with the movie “Doctor with Wellness” by Henry Jacques, Then in 1962, with the movie “Souls and Rhythms” by Abdel Aziz Al-Ramadani, and in 2011 with a movie by French-Romanian director Radu Mihalino.

He pointed out that “Ali Your Voice” is the first film by a Moroccan director to participate in the Cannes Film Festival, explaining that “this film reflects the current Moroccan cinema, its development and the multiplicity of its points of view.”

Turning to the criticisms of director Nabil Ayouch, including that his works do not reflect Moroccan visions, he said: “He is a distinguished director and his films are from Morocco, and I think that other directors such as Hisham Asri, Kamal Kamal, Hassan Ben Jelloun, Faouzi Bensaidi or Others, each one has a peculiarity that distinguishes it from others, and it is difficult to compare one director to another.

Marty Bauer, a founder of the United Talent Agency, has died. Bauer, who was 74, died at home in Los Angeles on Friday. He died of natural causes, sources said.

“The entertainment industry has lost a unique and accomplished executive – and UTA has lost one of its founders,” said the agency in a statement obtained by THR. “Marty Bauer helped reshape the agency business. He was a fierce advocate for artists and a force in the creative community. We pay tribute today to his life and legacy and our thoughts are with his family.”

Bauer later went on to establish The Bauer Company, a management and production outfit, serving as its president. Throughout his career, Bauer’s clients also included John Mankiewicz and Alan Alda.

The series “The King” by the Egyptian actor Amr Youssef has sparked widespread controversy during the past hours, as soon as the advertisement for the work was broadcast, in preparation for its release in the upcoming Ramadan drama season, as the audience’s comments varied about the hero of work, as well as the decoration, clothes, costumes, and others.

On the other hand, all of the work makers remained silent and not delve into the controversy sparked by the advertisement.

The series, based on a novel by the late international writer Naguib Mahfouz, called “Good Struggle”, and its events revolve around the story of King “Ahmose”, his liberation of southern and northern Egypt, and the expulsion of the “Hyksos” from Thebes.

The French director, Bertrand Tavernier, passed away, Thursday, at the age of 79, according to what was announced by the “Lumiere Institute” in Lyon, which he chaired.

The institute, which deals with the seventh art, announced in a tweet on “Twitter”, “the absence of Bertrand Tavernier today,” expressing “with his wife and two sons Nils and Tiffany and his grandchildren” of “sadness and pain” for his departure, according to the French Press Agency.

Tavernier was a prominent figure in French cinema, known for his eclecticism in his works, and gained a global reputation, and his films varied between contemporary and historical, and he had a tendency to societal themes.